


Step back in time - Part Four

by black_blade



Series: Step back in time [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Dark, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, Past Torture, Slash, Slow Burn, Swearing, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-08-04 05:11:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 160,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16340429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/black_blade/pseuds/black_blade
Summary: Time is not something they have on their side as Harry Potter enters his last year of schooling with the thought of having to face two Dark Lords starts to become a reality. Hard choices may have to be made as two Commanders work together to stop that from happening. But will it be too little, too late?





	1. Chapter Seventeen

Part Four

Time is not something they have on their hands as Harry Potter enters his last year of schooling with the thought of having to face two Dark Lords starts to become a reality. Hard choices may have to be made as two Commanders work together to stop that from happening. But will it be too little, too late?

xXx

Harry stumbled slightly as the portkey spat them out but Severus’s strong arm around him and Ry’s hand on his other arm kept him up right.

“Bloody portkeys,” Harry muttered under his breath as his boys let him stand on his own feet while Ry giggled.

Harry glared up at his son as he leaned heavily on his cane. Ry just grinned down at him and ruffled his longer than normal hair. It was something that Harry had done so many times to the boy that it had him grinning like an idiot while Severus just snorted and walked up the path to the small house.

“Come on,” Severus called over his shoulder. “We have a lot of work to do to get the house ready for Potter’s birthday party tomorrow.”

“Bloody mother hen,” Harry hissed.

Ry burst out laughing as Severus turned back to them.

“Did you say something Mr Sun?” Severus said silkily, glaring down at him with his best ‘Professor’ look.

“I said ‘Yes, dear.’” Harry called back.

Ry’s laughter kicked up a notch and Harry gave the boy a push on the shoulder, which didn’t even budge him. The boy had filled out even more and stood a good head and a half taller than Harry did. The light brown of his skin, the shaggy dark hair and blazing green eyes had girls giving him looks in the hallways.

 _‘Not that the boy would notice them,_ ’ Harry thought.

“I can’t help anyway,” Harry called back to Severus. “Doctor’s orders!”

Severus glared down at him for a few more seconds before turning on his heels, his robe flaring out around him as he stalked into the house.

“He’ll get you for that!” Ry snorted from beside him.

“He still loves me,” Harry said with a wink.

“Ugh! Dad!”

Harry grinned, moving into the house slowly, leaving his son gagging on the footpath.

“What did you do to, Potter?” Severus asked as the boy ran passed the two of them and up the stairs.

“Me?” Harry asked innocently. “Nothing.”

Harry smirked as Severus looked down his nose at him.

“I find that hard to believe.”

xXx

The strange family sat around the dining table for dinner that night. Harry had spent most of the day sitting in the armchair in the living room catching up on e-mails, phone calls and reports while Severus and Ry had tidied up the house for the guests that would be arriving for Ry’s birthday party the next day. The boy was turning seventeen, which was a big mile stone in a wizard’s life.

Harry could see the man that Harry Potter would become in this time and he felt a little sad that his son was all grown up and yet happy to see that Ry hadn’t grown into the man he had been at that age. By the time Harry had turned seventeen the death and sadness that he had seen had been heavy on his shoulders and he could almost feel the darkness on his soul.  He had buried two men that had meant so much to him and had known that there would be even more in his future.

Even if he could see a lot of himself in the boy, especially in the way Ry would throw himself into something without thinking, they were now two different people leading very different lives. He leaned back in his chair as he watched Severus and Ry tease each other over the table. He felt proud for the family he had around him.

“You know,” Severus said slowly as if just remembering. “I don’t know your birthday, Blake?”

Ry snorted, spilling his juice over the table as Severus sneered at him.

“You never asked him!” Ry cried as Snape flicked his wand cleaning up the mess with a sneer.

“Never seemed to come up,” Severus said blushing. "Plus, you two are normally overseas or somewhere else at this time of year."

“It’s tomorrow!” Ry said.

“Is that so?” Severus asked slowly.

“He has the same birthday as me!”

Harry sat back in his seat and watched the wheels turning in Severus’s head, even if the man guessed, having it confirmed was something different. His hand slipped off the table and grabbed his wand just in case. Severus’s face drained of all colour as he looked back and forth between Harry and Ry.

Harry knew that his longer hair made it easier to see the similarities between them. Not that Harry tried to hide them since no one would be looking for them anyway.  The Potter hair and features were renown in the Potter line even if he didn't carry the Potter name. Not to mention that he looked a lot like James Potter, except for the height. Shortness was not a Potter trait.

“Yes, he is me from the future!” Ry cried. Looking between the men with glee.

Harry stared at his son in shock, Severus forgotten for a moment.

“Ha!” Ry cried standing. “I’m right! I knew it!”

“How?” Harry whispered.

“You have the same birth mark on your right hip!” Ry said in glee. “When you told me that you were from the future I started thinking and it kept coming back to that birth mark and the fact you didn’t know my parents and you look way too much like a Potter to just be a cousin!”

“When did you see my hip?” Harry asked in shock.

“When I was four!” Ry said, shivering at the memory.

Suddenly Severus barked out a laugh, startling Harry and Ry. Both Potters turned to the other man.

“I’ve been fucking Harry Potter?!” Severus burst out.

“Ugh!” Ry groaned his face twisting up.

“Um,” Harry said softly. “We haven’t actually had-“

“Shut it, Sun!” Severus snapped, but the amusement in the man’s dark eyes had Harry relaxing.

“I didn’t want to hear that!” Ry yelped and pushed his plate away from him. “I’m straight you know!”

Harry barked a laugh and looked over at his son in amusement.

“I am!” Ry said.

Severus looked down his nose at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I am!” Ry insisted. “When did this become about me! He’s the one that didn’t tell us!”

“Um,” Harry said intelligently as a set of black eyes and a set of green eyes fell on him. “Slipped my mind.”

“Your mind is like a damn sieve,” Severus growled.

Harry grinned as Ry laughed.

“You are taking this well,” Harry said softly focusing on Severus.

“Um,” Ry said slipping from his seat. “I’ll just be go-“

“Sit,” Harry ordered.

“Sitting here quietly.” Ry finished.

“Listen you two,” Harry said seriously. “You can tell no one! The Dark Lord can't know that there are two Harry Potters.”

“I won’t tell him!” Ry spat.

“You can’t tell your friends either Ry,” Harry said staring at the boy. “No one. If he ripped it from their minds we are in a lot of trouble. It is bad enough with the connection that you have with the man.”

“The prophecy?” Severus gasped, going pale as more pieces fell into place.

Harry nodded.

“But you don’t have my scar!” Ry said as his eyes locked on Harry’s forehead.

“Don’t I?” Harry asked with a grin on his face.

Severus sucked in a breath, his eyes wide, as coldness settled in his stomach making him feel faint.

“You killed him,” Severus whispered.

Harry nodded.

“You killed Volde-Dark Lord?” Ry changed halfway through when Severus and Harry glared at him.

“Yes,” Harry said. “I killed him.”

“Wow,” Ry gasped. “Does that mean I will kill him?”

Harry sighed and rubbed his face, unsure about how could he explain all of this.

“What happened in Blake’s time, Potter.” Severus answered for Harry. “May not happen in this time.”

“But-“ Ry started to say.

“No, he is right Ry.” Harry said softly. “Just because I killed the man in my time. Does not mean that you will in this time. The way it stands at the moment.  Is that both you and I have been marked by the Dark Lord. The fact that my scar has faded over the years does not mean that the connection wasn’t there to begin with.”

“So, you could kill him again?” Ry asked hopeful.

Harry looked at his son sadly.

“You are a Horcrux Harry,” Harry said to his son, his heart breaking.

“Fuck!” Severus swore as Ry just stared at his father.

“How can I…” Ry trailed off in shock.

“He didn’t mean to make it,” Harry said softly and reached for Ry’s hand.

The boy pulled his hand away and wrapped his arms around himself. Harry felt a stab of hurt in his heart as he looked at his son sadly.

“When he killed your mother,” Harry explained. “He unintentionally made you into a Horcrux.”

“But-but you killed him!” Ry said standing suddenly, his chair crashing to the floor. “You must have gotten rid of all the Horcruxes to do that!”

“Yes,” Harry said calmly, feeling his many years. “I did.”

“Then how did you do it?” Ry cried.

“I died,” Harry said softly, looking away from the blazing green eyes. “I died Ry.”

“But…”

“Then the deathly hollows sent me back,” Harry finished.

Harry heard Severus get to his feet but he couldn’t look up at his son as he stared at the tabletop.

“Then we find the hollows of this time!” Ry cried.

“They don’t exist here, Ry.” Harry said softly.

“They have to!”

Harry stood slowly and turned to his son. Severus stood behind the boy with a hand on his shoulder in support as tears ran down the boy’s cheeks unchecked. Harry flinched back at the look in his son’s eyes as it cut him to the bone.

“I am so sorry Ry,” Harry said softly. “Only one set of hollows can exist in one time. When I entered this timeline the stone, elder wand and cloak became just normal, if still powerful items.”

“No!”

The boy yelled and ripped out of Severus’s grasp and dashed out of the room.

“Potter!” Snape yelled after the boy.

“Let him go,” Harry said softly as he took his seat again all of his energy gone. “He needs time to think it through.”

Harry covered his face with his hands feeling so old in that moment, still unsure how he had gotten to this point. Long thin fingers took hold of his wrists and pulled his hands away from his face and Harry looked up into dark unreadable eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said softly. “I just couldn’t tell you, I couldn’t run the risk that the Dark Lord would capture you and get the information from your mind. You would have been at risk if word had gotten out…we both would have been…even more so now that Ry has spoken my birth name.”

“Sh,” Severus said softly.

The taller man kneeled down on the floor in front of him and let his hands rest on Harry’s knees as he looked up at him.

“I understand, Harry.” Severus said softly.

Harry flinched at the name.

“Blake,” Harry said roughly.  “I have been Blake Sun longer than I was ever Harry Potter.”

Severus smiled softly and ran his hands across Harry’s thighs making the man shiver.

“If anyone knows what the Dark Lord is like, it’s me.” Severus said straightening up. “I can understand why you kept this secret and, in some way, I already knew who you were. I just didn’t want to face it.”

Harry gave him a sad smile.

“Another Potter in your life.” Harry said softly and Severus gave him a smirk.

“Come on,” Severus said getting to his feet and holding out a hand. “We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow and you are still recovering.”

“Oh god,” Harry moaned. “We have to deal with Black and a house full of children.”

Severus barked a laugh pulling Harry to his feet and hugging him tight. He leaned down and gave him a soft kiss.

“They are your family.” Severus whispered in his ear when he pulled back.

“Damn it.”

xXx

“Dad!”

Harry started, tightening his hold around Severus’s waist before hissing a breath as the movement pulled across his still healing ribs.

“Make it stop,” Severus muttered as he pulled the blanket over his head.

“Remus and Sirius are here!”

Suddenly the bedroom door crashed open and a blur of black fur landed on the bed making Harry gasp in pain as the beast half landed on him.

“Yelp!”

Severus’s wand was pointed at the dog on the bed as Ry howled with laughter from the safety of the doorway. Harry’s eyes watered as he looked at the scene of a shocked Black before the mutt bolted, Severus’s spell following the giggling Harry Potter out the door.

“That boy is so your son…well.” Severus trailed off.

“That he is,” Harry gasped as he held his ribs. “He is nothing like I was at that age.”

Severus remembered the other man talking about his childhood vaguely.

“Who brought you up?” Severus asked as he sat up in bed and looked over at Harry.

“Lily’s sister and husband,” Harry replied as he pulled himself out of bed.

“Lily didn’t like her too much,” Severus said.

“The feeling was mutual,” Harry replied. “Give me a hand with these bandages.”

Severus carefully helped Harry unbind his ribs and eyed off the fading bruises and red cuts from the stab wounds on his lover’s chest and stomach. Harry’s body was still littered with boot size bruises but the bruise balm was working to clear them up and the stab wounds were slowly healing over.

“Do you need me to rebind your ribs after your shower?” Severus asked running a gentle hand over the man’s chest.

“Nah,” Harry said softly. “Albert is coming around soon to give me a check-up, he doesn’t trust hospitals.”

Severus snorted and picked up his hand, his eye was drawn to the ring on the man’s finger and he frowned.

“You reached out to me when you were stabbed,” Severus said slowly.

“Yes,” Harry replied.

“The ring…” Severus trailed off.

Harry stilled and he looked down at the ring.

“The connection broke,” Harry said softly. “I had to pick it up again…a couple of times.”

“Broke?” Severus asked in puzzlement.

Harry lifted the man’s hand and kissed his knuckles as their eyes locked.

“My death broke the connection,” Harry said softly.

Severus paled and he felt faint at the other man’s words.

“I’ve fixed it now,” Harry said softly. “Your magic is on the ring Severus. It was easy to pick up the connection again.”

Severus pulled the man into a hug, just reminding himself that he was still alive and still here. Harry held him close feeling the tension in the man's back under his hands.

“Dad! Albert is here!”

“Can you tell him to meet me in here?” Harry asked Severus with a sigh. “I’ll just have a quick shower.”

Severus pulled him closer and looked into his green eyes before kissing him taking his time.

“Dad!”

xXx

Harry walked back into the bedroom about five minutes later, with a towel around his waist to see Albert sitting on the bed. The man whistled when he saw him.

“He did a number on you Blake,” The big man said in German.

“That he did, Albert.” Harry replied also in German. “Severus broke his hand getting a bit of revenge on the man from Ry’s report.”

The big man laughed.

“Come, come.” Albert said. “Stand here, drop the towel.”

Harry stepped in front of the man naked without a hint of embarrassment. Albert looked over the bruising on his legs, arms, chest and stomach and poked around the wounds across his stomach and chest.

“This one looks like it hit your ribs and into your lung,” Albert said in concern. “This hurt?”

“Yes,” harry hissed as the man pushed around the wound.

“This one would have got your liver, hurt?”

“Yes! Damn it!”

“Don’t be baby.”

Harry glared at the man as he kept looking at his stomach and chest.

“Only on your front?” Albert asked looking around at his back.

“Mostly yes,” Harry agreed. “And head.”

“Ah, yes.” Albert said pulling Harry’s head down with big but gentle hands. “Concussion?”

“Yes,” Harry replied. “Got me a good one on the side of the head.”

“This hurt?”

“Yes! God damn it!”

xXx

“Who is that man Severus?” Remus asked when Albert moved towards Severus and Blake’s bedroom.

“Doctor Greenburg,” Severus replied. “He’s here to look Blake over.”

“He looks like he is part bear,” Black said working his way into the conversation.

Severus glared down his nose at the man.

“I wouldn’t say that to him, Sirius.” Ry said from the table.

“No, please do.” Severus said sweetly. “Say those exact words.”

“Now boys,” Remus said getting between the two men. “Come on Sirius let’s head into the garden to set up the tent.”

Sirius glared at Severus for a second longer before following the werewolf outside.  Severus picked up his coffee and moved to the dining table to sit next to Ry.

“How are you feeling?” Severus asked the boy taking a sip of his coffee.

“I don’t know,” Potter replied. “Dad is always full of secrets but he would always answer any question I had and if he couldn’t answer he would say so. In fact, you could say he would say too much and I would have to tell him to stop.”

Severus snorted into his coffee and the two men shared a look.

“He loves you, Potter.” Severus said softly.  “He didn’t keep things from you to hurt you.”

“Yeah,” Ry said softly. “I know that. It’s just hard to wrap my mind around the fact I may have to die for Volde-Dark Lord to be killed.”

Severus grabbed the boy’s shoulder and shook him slightly until he looked up.

“That will not happen!” Severus hissed. “Your father will not let that happen… I won’t let that happen!”

“But the Horcrux!”

“We will find a way! Understand?”

Severus released the boy’s shoulder as he let the boy think through everything.

“Thank you, Snape.” Ry said softly some minutes later. “I suppose you aren’t too bad.”

“Don’t let that get around,” Severus snorted. “Or they will order you a bed next to the Longbottoms.”

_“_ _Versuche, kein Dummkopf zu sein_ _!”_

“Sounds like Dr Greenburg is done with your father,” Severus said with a smirk.

Ry choked a laugh.

“He just called him an idiot.” Ry said.

“Do you speak German?” Severus asked in surprise.

“Um,” Ry replied. “Not really, just some words, we lived in Germany for a little while when I was young before I started at a muggle boarding school here in England. Doctor Greenburg calls Dad a _Dummkopf_ a lot.”

“Can’t understand why,” Severus snorted.

Albert walked into the room as Blake limped behind him. Severus could see that Blake was already hurting and placed a pain potion next to the man’s coffee on the table. Blake nodded in thanks and sat in the chair gratefully, looking a bit pale.

“Happy Birthday, young Potter!” Albert said with a big grin and set a gift on the table.

Blake eyed the gift off for a second before nodding at Ry to take it, which piped Severus interest. Ry grinned and ripped the paper open to reveal a very nice leather potions pouch.

“I’m sure, Mr Snape can fill that up for you with healing potions,” Albert said and clapped the boy on the shoulder, which almost sent him into the table. “Now I’ll be off. _Auf Wiedersehen_.”

“Thank you, Albert.” Ry grinned.

“ _Auf Wiedersehen_ ,” Blake said.  _“_ Pass auf Dich auf _.”_

“ _Dummkopf_ ,” Albert replied.

Blake just nodded and toasted him with his coffee in agreement.

“I’ll walk you to the door, Albert.” Severus said standing.

Blake flicked his eyes between them but said nothing as Severus walked Albert to the door.

“Thank you for coming to see him,” Severus said as they stepped out onto the porch.

“No problem,” Albert replied with a grin. “That man did a number on him.”

“Yes,” Severus said darkly.

“How is your hand?” Albert asked with a laugh.

“Ah,” Severus said holding up his right hand. “He mentioned that?”

Albert quickly looked his hand over before nodding.

“Should have hit harder.” The man said gruffly.

“If we hadn’t been on school grounds,” Severus said softly. “I think I would have killed him.”

“You would not have been alone,” Albert said with a wink.

“Isn’t that against your oath?”

“Not when it comes to Blake.”

“He brings that out in people.”

“ _Ja_ , he does.” Albert said with a smile. “ _Auf Wiedersehen,_ Severus.”

“Good bye, Albert.”

xXx

“Hey Remus,” Harry called out to the man as the werewolf charmed a rope to twist around Sirius’s leg as the man worked on setting up a table.

“Hey Blake,” Remus said with a grin as he walked over to the man.

“Can you do me a favour?” Harry asked, keeping an eye on Black.

“What do you have in mind?” Remus replied.

“Could you take Ry out for a few hours?” Blake asked leaning back against the side of the house. “I have something planned for tonight to set up.”

“Sure,” Remus said happily. “We’ll bring him back just before two?”

“Sounds great.”

Suddenly Sirius yelped as he tripped bring down part of the tent on his head.

“After you fix the tent,” Harry said with a grin. “Looks like it has problems.”

“Remus!” Sirius yelled from under the canvas.

“Just can’t find the help,” Remus muttered as he moved back towards the animagus.

Harry grinned and moved back into the house. He walked in to see Severus and Ry talking softly at the table and he paused watching them for a couple of minutes.

“Hey Ry,” Harry said coming into the room. “Your uncles are going to take you out to lunch until the party this afternoon.”

“Cool,” Ry cried. “Where are we going?”

“Go ask Remus,” Harry replied. “Black seems to be having problems with the tent.”

“Okay Dad,” Ry said happily before running out the back door.

“What are you up to?” Severus asked smoothly.

“Me?” Harry asked with a wink. “Nothing.”

Severus just raised an eyebrow in doubt.

“Just remember I’m the one that supplies your pain potions.” Severus reminded him dryly.

“Ha!” Harry laughed and moved out of the room leaving Severus alone at the table.

xXx

Harry looked down at the glass bowl in front of him but his eye was draw to the wooden box on the edge of his table and he picked it up instead and ran his thumb over the Potter crest on the front of it fondly. The box held Ry's Gringotts keys and properties and since the boy was now an adult in the wizarding world, he should be giving him the box but he held himself back.

He placed the box back down on the table and just looked at it. He opened his drawer and moved a few things around until he pulled out the Potter will and flicked the paper open and ran his hand down the writing. Lily Potter had hand written the will and he smiled softly at it for a while as he read through it. He sighed and placed it on the table before diving back into his drawer and pulling out the paper that had been left with Ry when Harry had picked up the child and looked over the Headmaster's writing.

"Do you want a coffee?"

Harry looked up at Severus in the doorway and gave him a smile as the man looked over the table in interest.

"Yes, thank you."

Severus's eye caught on the box and Harry moved it to the drawer of the desk and closed it. Severus raised an eyebrow at Harry and he shook his head slightly. Severus sighed and moved back out of the room. Harry picked up the glass bowl and moved it closer as he pulled out his cherry wand and placed it on the table. He sat back in his chair in thought as he looked over his desk.

Severus moved back into the room and placed the cup on the small part of the table that wasn't covered in papers or other things. He picked up the letter the headmaster had written and glanced at Harry who nodded. He watched the man as he read through it. Harry passed him the Potter will as well. Harry watched as the man's eyes widened.

"This is Lily's writing," Severus said quietly.

"It is," Harry confirmed. "She mentions you in there."

Severus's eyes widened as he read the paper all the way through.

"Do you have a memory of James and the others in animagus forms?" Harry asked softly.

Severus looked back at him with unreadable black eyes and Harry pointed at the bowl and the man smirked at him.

"In the bowl," Harry said with a grin and tilted the bowl towards Severus.

The man gave him a smile as he pulled his wand and placed it to his temple and pulled the memory that Harry wanted and placed it in the bowl.

"Anything else?" Severus purred.

"All good," Harry said with a smile and pulled out a glass vial with a strand of silver swirling around. "I already hit Minerva up."

"Ha!" Severus barked. "Did I ever talk to you about Lily?"

Harry frowned as he looked at Severus.

"No," Harry said. "Why?"

Severus looked away and Harry placed a hand on the man's arm and he looked down at him.

 "She was your mother," Severus said softly.

"Severus," Harry drew the man's name out.

"Blake," Severus drawled as he leaned back on the table.

"Severus," Harry said with a sigh. "Ry and I may have been born the same person but the moment that the Dark Lord killed James and Lily Potter is the moment that our lives split and changed. For Ry that was only about sixteen years ago…"

Harry trailed off and Severus let his hand rest on his arm.

"For me however," Harry said as he looked up. "A very long time has passed from that moment. I walked away from the name Harry Potter and just about everything else from that life."

Severus looked at him with large eyes.

"It was just one life in many," Harry said softly. "It may have been my birth name…"

"It is still a part of you, Blake." Severus whispered.

Harry ran a hand over his head.

"Yes," Harry said. "Can we let it go for now?"

"Blake."

Harry looked up at Severus and he placed his hands on either side of his face.

"Are the memories that hard to deal with?"

Harry flinched and would have pulled back if Severus's hands hadn't been holding him still.

"Yes," Harry whispered. "As things start to change it's getting easier. To see Ry growing up into the man that Harry Potter will be in this time. So much different and yet the same as me. To see people that I loved so much still alive when they would have died…"

Severus gave him a soft smile.

"There is still so much to come," Harry said softly and could see a shiver run down Severus's spine at the words. "There could be so much death and destruction."

Harry's thoughts started to drift but Severus ran his thumb over his cheek pulled him back and he looked up at the other man.

"We can only try," Severus said softly. "You said it yourself, you can't stop everything even if you know the future. Charmling was a good example of that."

"Yes, yes he was." Harry said softly. "I think I see a talk with Charmling in my future."

Severus snorted and looked down at him fondly. He leaned down and gave him a soft kiss.

"A knife between the ribs would be a better outcome for him," Severus whispered in his ear and Harry shivered.

"I'm sure something could be worked out," Harry said with a smirk. "Now, I have work to do before Ry gets back. Off you go."

xXx

“Okay everyone,” Harry called to everyone in the garden.

The Weasley took up a big section of the garden to the left of Harry. Mr and Mrs Weasley sat with the other adults with their two older sons, Bill and Charlie. Fleur Delacour sat next to Bill and they held hands while George and Fred snickered behind them. Harry had invited Percy, but the boy hadn't been able to make it.

The Headmaster, Minerva and Hagrid were to the right of the Weasleys with Severus, Remus and Black. Ry, Hermione and Ron were sitting close to Harry with Neville, Luna and Ginny. Draco and Narcissa were sitting slightly apart but Harry had seen Draco mixing with the other children throughout the night and Severus had disappeared with Narcissa for a while before dinner was served.

“I have something planned for tonight,” Harry said loudly and the noise quieted around him. “If everyone could stand and move the tables to the side of the garden please?”

Tables moved as everyone got to their feet and Severus moved up close to him.

“Headmaster if you could please cast a concealment charm around the garden for me?” Harry asked.

“Of course, my boy.” The Headmaster said and with a flick the charm settled around the garden, which would probably wear off by the morning.

“What are you doing?” Severus hissed at him.

“Okay Ry,” Harry continued ignoring Severus. “Come grab this bowl please and take it to the middle of the garden.”

Ry ran up and grabbed the golden bowl out of Harry’s hands and did as instructed then stood back.

“Okay if all the kids could sit on the grass around the bowl please,” Harry called. “Just move back a bit further. Okay ready?”

“Okay dad!”

A murmur ran though the group as they looked at the bowl. Harry pulled his cherry wand out of its holster. Severus grabbed his wrist before he could do anything.

“Blake,” Severus hissed as him.

Harry grinned at the man and gently gave him a push.

“It’s okay,” Harry said quietly to him before turning back to the group.

“I may not be Ry’s biological father but I have looked after him since he was a baby,” Harry said to the group. “He is seventeen today and I want to share some moments in Ry’s life with you all. Don’t worry Ry they are not all embarrassing!”

A chuckle ran through the group at Harry’s words.

“Feel free to take a seat and enjoy!”

Harry cast his spell with a whisper and a flick of his wand and everything went dark except the bowl in the middle of the garden and a memory of Ry when he was a baby appeared in the air near the gold bowl. The green-eyed baby crawled across the baby blanket before disappearing. Then a small boy of about five appeared running after some coloured lights, which appeared around everyone in the garden. Remus reached out to touch one of them and it darted off as the kids giggled trying to catch the lights.

Then suddenly there was a huge Dragon with brown and red scales roaring silently and sending a jet of fire around the group harmlessly then a small figure of Ry appeared on a broom darting around the dragon as it roared soundlessly. Everyone gasped even the Headmaster was amazed by the display. The figure of Ry dived and everyone gasped as the dragon swung around and tried to get the boy as he ducked close to his broom and was soaring off with a golden egg in his hands.

The memory was replaced by a full moon in the sky and Remus gasped until Sirius elbowed him and pointed. A stag was peeking around and then suddenly there was a wolf and a black dog running across the grass and a small rat trying to keep up. The stag turned, stopped and let the rat catch up before running off again.

“Oh my god,” Remus gasped. “How did he?”

The stag stood tall for a moment before bounding off with the wolf, dog and rat at his heels.

Harry grunted as he held the cherry wand and Severus moved closer as the image changed and Lily Potter was standing there. Her red hair flowing around her head, her face lit up with a big smile as her green eyes looked up at the shaggy dark-haired man with glasses beside her. The man looked down at his wife grinning as he pushed his glasses up his nose as the Weasley twins made kissing noises loudly.

Then the image was gone and the image of a young Ry was standing there with his first wand in his hand, wind ruffling his shaggy black hair as he stared in wonder as the wand lit up with golden light.

“Blake,” Severus hissed but Harry ignored it and the pain in his chest as he held the spell.

A young Hermione, Ron and Ry appeared sitting on the grass at Hogwarts talking between themselves as a younger George and Fred crept up on them using the side of the building for cover. They spelled some water balloons to slowly float over to the three children and when they were above them let them drop with cries of laughter. Everyone laughed as the water balloons landed on the younger Ry, Hermione and Ron and they squealed.

“I knew that was you!” Ron yelled at his brothers.

Harry’s hand started to shake but he kept the spell up.

A small golden snitch appeared darting around the garden, just as someone would reach out to grab it, it would dart away again. Draco stepped forward to try and grab it but it shot to the side and then suddenly there was a younger image of himself swooping down, chasing it, followed by an image of Ry. The two boys chased the snitch around the garden as they weaved around the tent poles.

“Get it Ry!” Ron yelled out followed by a couple of other calls from the people gathered.

Then the image of Ry was diving with Draco on his heels and he grabbed the snitch holding it up high. Then the image was fading away and the light was coming back into the garden as Harry eased back on the spell.

“Albus!” Severus hissed at the Headmaster and he turned to see how pale Harry was and quickly grabbed a chair and placed it behind the man.

“Thanks,” Harry said as he placed his wand away.

“That was fantastic!” Ry yelled and raced over to his father giving him a big hug. “Thank you.”

Harry smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair before taking a seat.

“No problems Ry,” Harry said, ignoring the pain in his chest and the tiredness.

“Okay everyone,” The Headmaster called. “It’s getting late, I think it’s time we all head home.”

Everyone wished Ry a great birthday and started moving out of the garden. Severus was very grateful for the Headmaster at that moment. Severus grabbed Harry’s cup of coffee off the nearby table and placed it into the man’s hands.

“Mrs Weasley wants to know if I’m leaving with them to head to the Burrow for a few days?” Ry asked when the Weasleys were getting ready to leave.

“It you want to Ry,” Harry said softly from his seat.

“Thanks Dad!”

Ry ran off and before they knew it, just Severus, Harry and the Headmaster were left in the garden.

“Very nice piece of magic, Blake.” The Headmaster said with a smile. “Very nice indeed.”

“Thank you, Headmaster.” Harry said with a grin.

“Good night boys,” The Headmaster said before turning and striding away.

“Can you move?” Severus asked in concern.

Harry sat further back in his seat and looked around the garden. From the tables still pushed to the sides and the tent floating above them blocking out the stars before turning back to Severus.

“Blake?”

“Not without help,” Harry said softly.

“You idiot,” Severus hissed.

Harry grinned and leaned forward trying to ease the pain in his ribs.

“Yes, yes I am.” Harry said calmly.

“Come on,” Severus said moving forward.

Harry wrapped an arm around Severus’s shoulders and the other man pulled him to his feet. Harry hissed as his ribs complained but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be as they made their way into the house.

“That display was very impressive,” Severus told him.

“Pure light magic that was,” Harry said. “I was never very good at working with that kind of magic.”

“Looked very good to me,” Severus replied.

Harry grinned. “Thank you.”

“You are still an idiot,” Severus muttered.

Harry grinned tiredly feeling like heavy weights were holding him down as Severus helped him to the bed and Harry stripped his clothes off down to the bandages on his ribs. Severus pushed him under the covers and Harry was out before his head hit the pillow.

xXx

Severus woke early the next morning with Blake curled up next to him with his back resting against his. He turned over and checked the man but he was out. Blake didn’t normally sleep deeply but the magic he had used so shortly after his stabbing had worn him out completely. Severus reached forward and brushed his lover’s hair to the side and placed a hand on his forehead. He didn’t feel warm to the touch.  Out of curiosity he looked closer but couldn’t see a scar of a lightning bolt on the man’s forehead.

Severus shook his head and slipped from the bedroom before making his way out to the garden to tidy up from the party last night.  He checked on Blake a few times throughout the day but he was still curled up asleep and wasn’t running a fever so he wasn’t concerned yet. It was late afternoon when his phone rang suddenly. He fished it out of his pocket.

“Snape.”

“Severus, it’s Dracka,” Floated down the phone. “Is Blake okay?”

“What, why?” Severus asked racing into their bedroom to find Blake still curled up asleep.

“He hasn’t answered his phone or called me back.”

“He’s sleeping,” Severus replied, resting a hand on Blake’s forehead before leaving the room. “He used too much magic at Potter’s party last night.”

“Ha!” Dracka laughed. “Could you get him to call me when he wakes up?”

“Sure,” Severus said. “Anything I need to know?”

“I just want to know when I can stop by to talk to him,” Dracka said.

“I’ll get him to ring you,” Severus replied before hanging up.

Severus let Blake sleep through until after he finished cooking dinner. He slipped back into their room and sat on the bed next to the man. He reached out and pushed the blanket back. He was curled up on his side hugging his pillow close to him and breathing slowly. Severus ran a hand through the man’s hair before shaking his shoulder.

“Blake?”

“K, wha'?” Blake muttered as he blinked up at Severus.

“I have dinner if you’re hungry?” Severus said softly.

“Did I sleep for the whole day?” Blake asked rubbing a hand over his face.

“Yes.”

“Damn,” Blake muttered as he flopped onto his back with a hiss. “I had work to do today.”

“Like calling Dracka?” Severus asked innocently.

“What? Dracka?” Blake asked pulling himself into a sitting position and grabbing his phone. “Oh, for fuck sake!”

Blake turned the phone for Severus to see and he smirked when he saw twenty-six missed calls and five voice messages on the small screen.

“Did he call you?” Blake asked leaning back in the bed.

“Yes, he sounded concerned about you.” Severus said.

“Ha!” Blake said bitterly. “He is concerned about the fact that I can keep up my end of the Treaty and at the moment I would just be directing people from the side lines.”

“He seems to care about you Blake.”

“I still killed his brother Severus,” Blake pointed out. “The rage on his face…”

Blake shivered and Severus picked up his hand.

“Come on,” Severus said instead and stood up. “Dinner time.”

“Do I have time to put on pants?” Blake asked with a smirk.

“I’ll think about it…”

xXx

Dracka appeared on the dark street in Leeds on a cool Tuesday night. He could still feel the light of the day soaking into the earth as he looked up at the small house before him. It didn’t look like much from the outside, just a normal two-story building with a small porch out the front and a well-maintained garden and path leading up to the front door.

He could feel Blake’s slight magic on the gate, but if he hadn’t been looking for it he wouldn’t have noticed. It still amazed him how such a powerful man could feel like he was a muggle most of the time and it wasn’t until he was drawing on the magic or he was distracted that the magic would slip. He still had nightmares of the night that his brother was killed and the dark magic that had spread out from the slip of a man and a silver sword.

He pushed those thoughts to the side and moved up the path to the front door, the magic parting around him with only a slight brush as he moved through the man’s wards. He knocked loudly on the door and heard pounding footsteps. The door flung open to Harry Potter’s grinning face.

“Ah, Hello.” Ry said softly, the grin fading. “Dad said to come in, he’s in the garden.”

“Thank you, Mr Potter.” Dracka said with a small smile moving into the small entrance hall.

The staircase to the upper story was in front of him as well as the hallway leading into the kitchen and the back yard. To his right-hand side was a cosy living room and a study to the left. Everything in the house was neat and the walls were mostly bare as he looked around in interest.

“Just through the back,” Ry said nervously.

“Thank you,” Dracka said politely. “I think I can find it.”

“Okay, bye!” Ry grinned and dashed up the stairs.

“He has no manners that boy.”

Dracka turned to see Severus coming out of the living room and gave him a soft laugh.

“He is young,” Drack said giving the other man’s hand a shake. “I hear there was some trouble at Hogwarts?”

“Yes,” Severus replied and the man’s eyes darkened.

“Blake didn’t call us?” Dracka asked, the thought had been bothering him

Severus eyed him over and Dracka couldn’t think of a better man to be at Blake’s side in these times.

“They came for him first,” Severus said slowly “Stabbed him straight in the chest before he could react. He only just managed to call out to me…”

Dracka could see that the memories still haunted the other man by the way that his right fist clenched and his eyes darkened. Yes, this man would kill for Blake and he was hoping that if Sun’s hand wavered that Severus would do what needed to be done.

“Blake is in the garden,” Severus said when the silence stretched. “Doing god only knows what.”

Dracka barked a laugh and asked, “Getting in the last of his work before school starts again?”

“Yes,” Severus said blandly. “He said he can’t do it behind the wards of the school.”

“Ah,” Dracka said. “Sounds like dark magic then.”

Severus stiffened beside him and Dracka barked another laugh.

“You wizards and your ideas of dark and light magic,” Dracka said with a smirk. “It is all magic in the end.”

“Severus! Is that Dracka?”

Severus and Dracka looked towards the garden.

“I see that manners escaped Blake as well,” Dracka said in amusement.

“You have no idea,” Severus muttered and wandered off. “No idea.”

Dracka looked after the man with an amused smile before moving through the house and into the back garden. The house had a large garden that was bigger than the house itself and was mostly grass from one fence to the other. Blake stood in the middle of the yard in blue jeans and a dark grey shirt, his scars on show as he worked with some stones on a small table. Dracka moved towards the man, feeling the slight magic rolling over him, as he got closer.

“Message stones?” Dracka asked, as he got closer to the man.

“Hold on,” Blake muttered his magic swirling.

Dracka could tell that the man was still recovering from his attack since the magic didn’t feel as free flowing as it normally did around him and he could tell that the man had to keep grabbing the strands every now and again. He was also sweating slightly and the tart smell made Dracka’s mouth water.

“Hold it back Dracka,” Blake muttered and Dracka noticed he had stepped closer to the man and took a step back.

Dracka took a tight hold of his demon and pushed it down as he watched the man work. He could see that the man still held himself hunched forward slightly as he worked and could just see the pale green brown of the bruises down Blake’s arms. The stones, the man was working with, slowly changed shape and flattened out until they looked like large phone screens without buttons before the magic soaked in and they stopped glowing. Blake turned to Dracka with an easy grin on his face as he placed his wand on the table.

“Welcome,” Blake said. “Sorry I couldn’t meet you at the door. I had to get these done for you.”

“For me?” Dracka asked stepping forward and picking up one of the stones.

He could feel no magic under his fingers and was surprised since he had seen the amount that Blake had pushed into them. They just looked like normal, if a bit too flat, stones.

“Yes,” Blake said leaning on his cane. “Needed to get them done before heading back to the school next week. They are message stones, as you know, but are different.”

“How?” Dracka asked turning the stone over in his hand.

Blake picked up one of the stones and suddenly the one in Dracka’s hand buzzed and a message appeared on the flat stone.

 _‘You can use it like this.’_ Was written on the stone, in Blake’s neat script.

“Interesting,” Dracka said.

Blake grinned and put the stone back on the table with the other thirty or so.

“They can be used with anyone else that has one,” Blake explained. “Just think the message you want that person to get and it will appear on your stone then you can send it to that person. I thought that it would work well with your spies. You can also send reports with them, by placing the stones on the report and having a file ready with the other stone. I’ll write out the instructions for you.”

“That is generous,” Dracka said slowly, raising an eyebrow at Blake.

“Well I may have added in another spell.” Blake admitted.

“Do tell?” Dracka said dryly.

“It will tell me what kind of magic your spies come into contact with,” Blake explained. “I’m looking for a certain type of magic and I don’t have the time to go looking everywhere for it. Your spies have a better chance of coming across it than I do.”

“Will you know what will be written on the stones?” Dracka asked.

“Nope,” Blake said with a grin. “I don’t care what your men are talking about, I’m just after that magic.”

Dracka pulled his demon forward and knew his eyes had turned red but the other man just raised an eyebrow in question. Drack stepped forward until he was within arm’s length of the other man. Blake had to tilt his head back to keep eye contact with him. The vampire had to give credit to the man, most people would have flinched back when Dracka pulled his demon forward but Blake just stood calmly before him.

Dracka grinned feeling his fangs digging into his bottom lip as he reached a hand forward and cupped the side of the man’s face. Blake tensed but didn’t move away as Dracka’s demon rolled over him making goose bumps come up on the man’s arms as a shiver ran down his back. Blake’s eyes dilated but Dracka knew that if he pushed forward, he would find himself on his ass.

“Find what you are looking for?” Blake asked, voice rough.

“I think I found that a long time ago,” Dracka whispered, running his hand down the man’s face and down to his neck, his thumb resting against the jugular vein feeling the blood pulsing under his hand.

“Dracka,” Blake warned.

They heard the back door to the garden open behind them but didn’t move. Blake’s eyes held a question as they looked up at him. The vampire could feel the demon calling for him to claim the man and the power he held but he slowly pulled the beast back. He knew when his eyes changed back for Blake relaxed slightly under his hand.

“One day,” Dracka muttered.

“Not today,” Blake said softly.

Dracka barked a laugh and stepped back, as Blake’s eyes flicked over his shoulder and the vampire knew that Severus stood there.

“He is good for you Blake,” Dracka whispered. “But he won’t live forever.”

Blake glared at him darkly as his eyes flashed green and Dracka stepped further back with a shiver. Then the man grinned and turned towards Severus and the moment passed.

“Finished?” Severus asked stepping up next to Blake and looking down at the stones.

“Yep,” Blake replied with a soft grin in Severus’s direction. “You can stop hovering like a mother hen.”

Dracka coughed a laugh as Severus glared down at the other man.

“Just remember I have your potions old man,” Severus smirked down his nose at Blake.

Blake winked at Dracka and pulled out a leather pouch from his pocket and pushed the stones into it, the vampire flinched at the sounds they made clicking against each other.  Blake just grinned and held the bag out for Dracka to take.

“Thank you, Blake.” Dracka said softly.

“No problems.” Blake said leaning back on his cane. “What did you want to talk about?”

Dracka grinned showing off fangs and was pleased when he saw a shiver go down Severus’s back.

“I’ll be seeing you when school starts up,” Dracka said with glee.

“Why is that?” Severus asked frowning.

“Oh god, no.” Blake said dryly.

Dracka’s grin widened. “I’ll be teaching Defence.”

Severus paled as Blake ran a hand over his short hair.

“Gee,” Blake muttered. “Albus is really hitting the bottom of the barrel.”

“Hey!” Dracka yelped. “And it was the Minister of Magic that called me not the Headmaster.”

“Say what?” Blake asked in shock.

“Yes,” Dracka grinned darkly. “Said he would like to forge a better relationship between the Council and the Ministry.”

“He must be running scared,” Blake muttered. “This could help us.”

“Yes,” Dracka said softly.

“Oh,” Blake suddenly turned to Severus and a silent conversation seemed to pass between the two.

“Yes?” Dracka drawled.

“Blake seems to think that there are students with creature blood in them,” Severus replied for the other man. “He says he doesn’t have the time to look into it.”

“Oi!” Blake yelped, whacking the taller man’s shoulder.

Dracka watched the two men with an amused smile on his face.  They worked so well together, almost seamlessly. He was looking forward to watching them working together once they were at the school.

“Well,” Dracka said softly. “I should be leaving. Thank you again for the message stones, Blake.”

“No problems,” Blake said with a grin. “I guess we will be seeing you soon then.”

Dracka turned and walked back into the house leaving the two men in the garden.

Severus looked down at Blake with soft eyes once the vampire had left. Blake gave him a wink and went to grab the wand he had left on the table but Severus got there first and gabbed up the cherry wand and placed it into his own pocket.

“Really?” Blake asked. “Do you want the other one as well?”

Severus grinned and held out his hand, Blake sighed and passed over the other wand.

“Fine,” Blake muttered. “But I want them back once we get to school.”

“What was all that about with Dracka?” Severus asked softly.

“Um,” Blake said nervously. “I have a feeling that I may have been forgiven.”

“I think you may have been forgiven when I walked in to see him asleep next to you after the battle with Simpson,” Severus said softly.

“Say what?” Blake yelped, with wide eyes.

Severus rumbling laughter sounded in the yard at the look on the other man’s face.

xXx

Harry and Severus made their way up to the castle before the students were due to arrive later in that day. The day was bright, clear and very pleasant as they walked along. Severus reached over, taking the other man’s hand and Harry turned and looked up at him with a soft smile.

“What’s in store for us this year?” Severus asked with a smirk.

Harry barked a laugh and whacked his shoulder without heat.

“Mr Sun!”

Harry stumbled a stop at his shouted name and looked around with wide eyes. Professor Sprout waddled towards them with rage on her face. Severus stepped back leaving Harry to face the woman head on.

“Coward,” Harry muttered out of the side of his mouth.

Severus snorted.

“Mr Sun!” The woman cried as she got closer, hands on her hips as she glared up at Harry.

“Professor Sprout,” Harry said in his most charming voice. “How can I help you?”

“Don’t you used that tone with me, young man!” The woman snapped pointing a finger at Harry.

“Um,” Harry stumbled over his words.

“That beast of yours has been eating my garden beds!” The woman shrieked.

“My beast?” Harry asked slowly.

“That griffin!” Sprout cried. “It has eaten through my prize-winning roses and my whole crop of corn!”

“My glass griffin?” Harry said slowly. “The one made from glass?”

“Yes!” Sprout yelped.

“Right,” Harry said drawing out the word. “I am very sorry, my dear. I had no idea that an animal made from glass could have such interesting tastes.”

“I want that beast gone!” The woman demanded, before turning on her heel and waddling away leaving the two men speechless.

“Um,” Harry said turning to Severus. “What the hell just happened?”

Severus just smirked down at the man.

“Oi!” Harry said smacking Severus’s arm. “You were no help!”

Severus coughed a laugh as Harry turned on his heel and started to limp after the woman.

“Where are you going?” Severus called after him.

“To sort out my beast, apparently.” Blake called over his shoulder. “It’s not like that beast saved the Headmaster's life, this school or anything like that!”

xXx

Severus looked up from the book he was reading when Blake banged into the room. He placed the book on the table next to the man’s two wands calmly. He smirked when he saw the thin scratches covering the man's arms and face.

“Have a little trouble, love?” Severus purred.

Blake glared at him and placed the small griffin on the table before Severus.  It was frozen in place with its wings wide and head forward as if roaring.

“Bloody thing wouldn’t come out of the rose bushes,” Blake muttered running a hand over his head. “So, I had to go in after it!”

“You couldn’t summon it?” Severus asked sitting back in his seat.

Blake’s glare picked up a notch.

“I’m going for a shower,” The man muttered not answering the other man.

Severus laughed when the man slammed the door shut loudly behind him.

xXx

When the first years started being sorted, Dracka leaned over towards Severus next to him.

“Why does Blake look like he had a run in with a very large Hedgehog with issues?” Dracka asked, watching the man seated next to his son at the Gryffindor table.

Severus snorted into his hand loudly as McGonagall glared over at him from her place near the first years.

“Please,” Severus smirked. “Ask him that question, with those exact words.”

“Do you think I have a death wish?” Dracka asked.

Severus snorted again and chuckled. Blake chose that moment to look at him and lock eyes. Severus smirked back as the man glared at him. The thin red scratches over his face and arms standing out since Severus had refused to give him a balm until after the feast.

“Oh boy.” Dracka muttered. “You are in trouble.”

Severus grinned wider and gave Blake a wink. The man turned away as Ry giggle next to him. His father clipped him on the back of his head, which just made Severus snort again in amusement.

“Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts,” The Headmaster said standing after the last student was sorted. “We have a new teacher this year. Please welcome Professor Rolf Dracka who has been appointed by the Ministry of Magic and he will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts which should be right up his alley for the fact that he is a vampire. Please make him feel welcome.”

Dracka snorted as got to his feet and bowed to the students before taking his seat again to whispers and scattered applause.

“Thank you everyone,” The Headmaster said cheerfully. “Please eat.”

The tables filled with food and the noise started up around the room with more than a few glances cast in Dracka’s direction. Severus leaned over towards him and Dracka raised his eyebrow in question.

"Maybe with a real Vampire here it will dispel the myths that I hunt down students at night and drink their blood," Severus drawled.

"They may just think that you have a hunting buddy now," Dracka counted and flashed his fangs at the other man.

Severus sat back in his seat as Minerva sat down at her place and looked over at them with interest.

"Dracka has offered to be my hunting buddy, Minerva." Severus said with a smirk.

"Don't you have enough rumours going around about you, Severus?" Minerva said stiffly. "Without starting your own?"

"I'm sure I could always team up with Blake," Dracka said dryly. "You always need a look out for the Headmaster when hunting down students."

Albus snorted as he looked over at the two in amusement while Minerva huffed.

"Blake looks like he has already had a run in with something," Minerva replied.

"My rose bushes," Professor Sprout squeaked. "What was left of them anyway."

Severus's lips curled up in a smirk.

"The rose bushes won," Minerva muttered.

 


	2. Chapter eighteen

Author rambling: I've been busy fixing up part one and two of this story and half of Part three. There are added scenes in part one (chapter 1) and the start of part three (Chapter 9). Neither make that much difference to the story line, more just a fix up than anything else.

xXx

 

"Come in," Harry called at the knock at his door and looked up when Albus Dumbledore entered. "Albus, how are you?"

"I'm well Blake," Albus said with a small smile, as he placed a black stone on the table in front of the other man.

Harry picked it up in interest and felt the magic under his fingertips.

"What's this?" Harry asked. "It's broken, whatever it is."

"Can you fix it?" Albus asked as he took a seat next to the man.

"Probably?" Harry replied. "Looks like a broken link or corruption."

Harry looked at it closer as he opened his mind to the magic of the stone, it was built on light magic as he looked into it. The charm work was perfect but the wards worked into it needed work. Harry gently picked up the wards and the charms and ran the magic over them, strengthening the ones that needed it, then he paused.

"These are the stones you use to call the Order," Harry said softly.

"They are," Albus replied. "Someone tampered with them."

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I can see that. Do you want me to fix it or rewrite a different spell into it?"

"Different spell, if you can." Albus said.

Harry looked up at the other man still seeing the magic and could see the glow around him and the connection he held to the stone and the Order.

"You do know," Harry said softly. "If I took some time I could identify every member connected to this stone just by holding it and picking up the connection?"

Albus paled as the words sunk in.

"Do you also want me to write in a ward to stop a curse breaker from doing that?"

"Yes, my boy." Albus said softly. "Thank you."

"Okay," Harry said. "Just sit still and try not to say anything, unless I ask."

"Proceed, Mr Sun."

Harry gave the man a smile before closing his eyes and diving into the magic of the stone and picking up the connection to every Order member and was surprised by the man's network.

"No wonder you didn't mind losing Severus as a spy," Harry commented and he heard the other man snort.

Harry spread his mind out along the connections leading away from the stones, seeing them like a spider web leading off from the one stone in his hand as he picked up every person. He didn't look at the people as individuals due to the fact that he didn't want to know who was in the Order but he could have. He picked up Albus's light magic already on the stones and spread it out along the links.

"Can you add more magic to the stone? Light magic." Harry asked and held his palm out flat with the stone in the middle.

Harry picked up the added magic the Headmaster gave him and twisted it around the connections, he let the magic reel out and made sure not to add his own magic to the mix, since he didn't want to be connected to the network.

"That’s enough," Harry muttered and the magic cut off.

He quickly crafted the ward he needed using the magic in the stone and frowned in concentration. It was always so much harder to work with magic that was already there, but he had worked with wards for a very long time and he very quickly had the spells in place, only using his magic to boost the power but not make any connections.

He grabbed the spell that was corrupting the stones and pulled it free and let it go to drift away as he wrote in another ward in its place.

"Please call the Order," Harry said softly.

"Call them here?" Albus asked.

"Just a general call I want to see if I can pick out the person that corrupted the stone," Harry explained as he held the connections. "I will block the call from going out."

Albus tapped the stone with his wand and Harry grabbed the call with his magic and followed it out to every stone. This was very advanced magic and he lost all concept of time as he followed every link. Just as he had started to narrow it down a loud bang startled him and he lost it with a curse.

He glared over at Severus before turning to Albus.

"I lost the connection," Harry said. "Sorry."

"Did I interrupt something?" Severus asked as he looked at the stone in Harry's hand. "Is that an Order stone?"

"Do you have yours Severus?" Harry asked.

Severus slipped a stone out of his pocket and handed it over. Severus's stone was a green colour unlike the Headmaster's black one.

"I'll see if I can pick it up better with two stones," Harry said. "Try not to slam a door this time."

Harry used the two links in the stones to search out the connection, he had been searching for before, but it was too fine a network until something caught his attention and he cocked his head to the side slightly as he focused in on the stone that had caught his attention.

"Malfoy Manor," Harry said with a frown.

"What's that, Blake?"

"There is a stone at Malfoy Manor," Harry said. "Should there be?"

"No."

Harry turned his attention to that stone, and tapped along the lines and they pinged out along the network until he focused in on the one coming from the Malfoy manor. He flicked the connections again and watched the waves they made and followed the one that felt like it was coming from behind the wards of Malfoy manor as he felt the blood wards bounce back to him.

"We have a problem," Harry said softly. "Give me a second."

Harry carefully moved along the link towards the stone, keeping a look out for any type of magic that could trap him, before remembering that a lot of that type of magic wouldn't be common for a long time. He moved forward mentally until he stood in a room.

He looked around in interest but it was just a bare room with nothing out of the ordinary in it. He could feel dark magic close by and was sure that Voldemort was in the house somewhere and he pulled his magic closer to the link so that the man wouldn't be able to pick up on him. The room turned to grey tones around him as he pulled his magic back.

The Order stone was sitting on the table in front of him and he laid his hand over. He picked up the link to that stone and broke it but still held the connection. Suddenly the door to the room opened. He looked up into the red eyes of the Dark Lord and pulled back from the stone sharply.

Harry jumped back from the table he'd been sitting at and his chair crashed to the floor as the two wizards looked at him in surprise. Harry quickly lunged forward and grabbed the two stones and grounded the link he had picked up from the stone at Malfoy Manor and cut it off in the Headmaster's main stone.

"The Dark Lord is at Malfoy Manor," Harry said quickly.

Severus grabbed his shoulder tightly and Harry looked up at him.

"Did he see you?" Severus asked softly, thinking of when Harry had broken the dark mark.

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "I broke the connection with that stone before he arrived. You may not have had a spy headmaster. I think that the Dark Lord may have a curse breaker and an Order stone."

"Did you say he was at Malfoy Manor?" Albus questioned sitting forward in his seat.

"Yes," Harry replied with a smirk. "Very much at Malfoy Manor. Does that help you?"

"Yes," Albus replied with a smile. "Can you tell me anything else?"

"He had an Order stone and knew what it was," Harry said as he picked up the two stones. "He probably had someone corrupt the stones when Charmling let the death eaters in."

"Can you do what you did before to find out more?" Albus asked.

"Albus," Severus warned.

"No," Harry replied as he passed the black stone to Albus and the green stone to Severus. "I broke that connection. I do have something for you though."

Harry moved to his bedroom as Severus turned on the Headmaster and hissed at him. He picked up the cardboard box that had come in the mail a couple of days ago and moved back into the room. Severus was glaring at the old man while Albus just looked back at him mildly.

"Muggle listening devices," Harry said as he placed the box on the table. "There should be instructions in the box. I ordered these a couple of months ago and it's taken a while to get the approval for them."

Harry slid the box over to the Headmaster and locked eyes with the man. Albus's eyes were intense as they looked at him and Harry looked back mildly.

"It is up to Severus about whether he joins the Order, Headmaster." Harry said softly. "But just remember who will be pulling his ass out if something goes wrong."

"Blake?" Severus asked softly but Harry didn't turn away from the Headmaster.

"Yes, of course." Albus said with a smile. "Thank you, Blake."

"No problems, Headmaster." Harry said softly as he pulled back. "Would you like coffee?"

"Is there tea?" Albus asked as he opened up the box in interest.

Harry moved over to the kitchen and the moment was broken as Severus looked between the two men feeling like he had missed something.

"Coffee, Severus?" Harry called from the kitchen.

"Yes," Severus replied as he moved towards the table and had a look in the box as Harry made drinks for them.

xXx

"What was that about with the Headmaster?" Severus asked once the man had left.

Blake looked up from his coffee and looked him over.

"It is hard when you have two Generals," Blake said softly. "They both want to control the men under their command. When you have two armies it's fine, but when those armies overlap there can be problems."

Severus frowned as he looked at the other man.

"We are fighting two wars, Severus." Blake said softly. "Albus has been the head of the Order of the Phoenix for a long time. I walked in here as an unknown factor."

Severus eyes widened, remembering that day so long ago when he had thought those exact words and the suspicions that both the Headmaster and himself had had about Blake.

"I took away his top spy, a death eater in the Dark Lords inner circle." Blake said softly. "The night I told you not to answer the Dark Lords summons, you went against Albus's orders?"

"Yes," Severus replied and Blake nodded.

"I'd been here for less than a year and had already stuffed up his plans," Blake said mildly, as he sipped his coffee.

"He knew that the Dark Lord would rise again?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Blake replied. "We both did."

Severus looked at the man with wide eyes as more puzzle pieces sorted themselves out.

"He was trying to bring you under his control?" Severus asked. "That's why he wanted a contract with you and this school."

"Albus is a good man at heart, Severus." Blake said softly. "But he is also a Commander. Don't forget that about him…or me."

"You told him you were from the future." Severus stated with a frown.

"I did," Blake said with a smirk and a glint in his eyes.

"When you approached him about the Council?" Severus said slowly.

"Correct," Blake replied.

Severus smirked as Blake gave him a grin.

"Please tell me that you were sorted into Slytherin?" Severus asked softly.

Blake smirked even more and gave him a wink.

"Nope," Blake replied.

Severus gave a bark as he looked his lover over as the other man sat back in his seat.

"You should have been," Severus drawled.

Blake gave a laugh and Severus smirked back in amusement.

"Albus has to learn to play nice," Blake said softly. "He not only has me here, but also the vampire now and he can't get rid of either of us."

"Why would he want to?"

"Sorry, wrong words." Blake amended. "We don't fall under his command, except him being our boss. I made a deal with him Severus."

"What deal?" Severus asked sitting forward in his seat.

"I will look into Graham Simpson and let him deal with the Dark Lord," Blake said softly. "It was the best I could give him."

Severus frowned.

"He does care about you Blake," Severus said softly and he watched in interest as Blake stilled.

"Yes," Blake replied. "And I am sure he knows who I was in this time as well, but it won't help him. I am not the Harry Potter he needs."

Severus shivered at the man's words as he looked into the man's green eyes.

xXx

Harry adjusted his blue tie in front of the mirror before standing back and running a brush over his short hair, not that it really needed it, as he shrugged his shoulders to let the suit jacket sit better and brushed a hand down his black dress pants. He stepped out into the main part of his rooms when he heard the door slam loudly.

He paused when he saw Severus standing there dripping something onto his floor and scowling. The other man’s eyes widened when they saw him and he raised an eyebrow in question as some type of slim slid down his face.

“Second year potions?” Harry asked in amusement as he looked at the other man.

“That girl!” Severus growled as he moved towards the bathroom. “She is already excelling Longbottom!”

“And the reason you are dripping slime on my floor and not in your own rooms?” Harry questioned as he crossed his arms.

“You are a curse breaker,” Severus snapped back. “You work it out!”

“Ah,” Harry said as his first cleaning spell failed but his fourth spell worked well enough as Severus stalked passed him and into the bathroom leaving a trail behind. “Do you want me to stop in at your classroom on the way out?”

Harry stood in the bathroom doorway as Severus had a shower and casually flicked his wand at the mess on the floor and the man’s clothes. They would still need a wash but at least his spell got most of the slim off.

“Where are you going?”

“Interrogation at the Ministry.”

“What!” Severus squeaked and stuck his head around the shower door. “Why are they interrogating you?”

“They aren’t.” Harry replied, as he picked an empty potion’s vial from the man’s robes and washed it in the sink. “I am contacting an interrogation.”

“Who?” Severus asked as he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.

“Mr Charmling,” Harry replied as he half-filled the vial with water and held it up for the other man. “What do you reckon? Does that look like Veritaserum?”

Severus smirked as he wrapped a towel around his waist.

“I could just give you the real deal,” Severus drawled.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Harry asked, as he slipped the vial into his jacket pocket. “I should be back in time for dinner. I’ll stop by your classroom on the way out.”

Severus grabbed his arm as he went to turn around and Harry gave him a dark look and he quickly released his arm as Harry rubbed his jacket to make sure it didn't wrinkle.

“Blake?” Severus said softly.

Harry flashed him a grin with a glint in his eye.

“Oh, god.” Severus moaned. “I know that look.”

Harry barked a laugh as Severus stepped back.

“See you tonight, Severus.” Harry called over his shoulder.

xXx

Harry sat back in his seat in the Auror Department Interrogation room with his lawyer beside him and a short nervous man in one of the seats on the other side of the wooden table. Harry looked up as the door opened and Charmling was pushed into the room with two other Aurors in uniform. The man’s eyes widened when they saw him.

“Mr Charmling,” Harry greeted with a smile. “Have a seat.”

The two Aurors roughly pushed him into a seat and the man placed his cuffed hands onto the wooden table, his eyes locked onto Harry.

“Please unlock the handcuffs,” Harry requested. “Mr Charmling, I believe you know your lawyer, Mr John Smith, and the man to my right is my lawyer Mr Michael Boulder.”

“You…” Charmling started to say then trailed off as he rubbed his wrists.

The two Aurors stood back on either side of the door.

“Are alive?” Harry asked , as he took a sip of his coffee mildly. “Feel free to have a drink, real coffee this one.”

Charmling took the cup in his hands and took a couple of sips, his eyes still wide, as they looked at him.

“Good thing I am still alive, Mr Charmling.” Harry said softly, as Charmling’s lawyer looked like he would rather be anywhere else. “Or you would be up on murder charges instead of attempted murder. Now, I have a couple of questions for you.”

Charmling sneered and said. “I have said all I wish to.”

“Ah,” Harry said with a smile and placed the glass vial on the table. “But the up side to having a lover that’s a potion master to access to all sorts of neat potions.”

Charmling’s eyes widened.

“You can’t do that!” Charmling’s lawyer squeaked.

“What?” Harry said with a smile. “Place a vial on the table?”

Harry turned to Mr Boulder.

“I don’t know a law against it,” Boulder said tonelessly.

“But,” Charmling’s lawyer stuttered.

“Now, Mr Charmling.” Harry said as he looked over at the other man. “I already looked at your Auror file. Nothing much there, I must admit, so I started to look elsewhere. Are you not going to drink the rest of your coffee, it is very good?”

Harry gave a grin as he picked up his own coffee while Charmling just looked pale.

“No,” Charmling replied shortly.

“What a waste,” Harry said mildly as he opened a file on the table. “So, the muggle police department had more to say about you. It’s a shame that the Auror department doesn’t cross check these things. I do however.”

Harry looked up at the pale face of Charmling.

“Anything to say Mr Charmling?” Harry asked gently. “Because I’m getting sick of hearing my own voice.”

Charmling glared at him in answer.

“Very well,” Harry said. “Now, this file was a lot more interesting and I’m sure a psychiatrist will find it very intriguing as well. Still nothing to say Mr Charmling?”

“I have nothing to say to you,” Charmling snarled.

Harry tapped the vial.

“Just a matter of time really,” Harry said casually. “I’m just waiting.”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Charmling snapped, sitting forward in his chair.

“Why would you need to,” Harry replied. “I have your file here, I then decided to pull your father’s police record.”

Charmling paled and stuttered, “But you can’t do that!”

Harry calmly placed his Department badge on the table next to the potion vial and Charmling’s eyes widened even more.

“I think,” Harry said calmly. “You will find that I can.”

“Bah!” The man yelled and swiped everything off the table. Harry held his hand up as the Aurors went to step forward.

“Why did you stab me?” Harry said softly, into the silence.

Charmling stared at him with wide eyes.

“You are a Dark Wizard!” Charmling snarled.

“I am, that is hardly a secret.” Harry said calmly, then sat forward in his chair. “And yet I wasn’t the one that let death eaters onto the grounds of Hogwarts.”

“You waste your power!” Charmling snapped as he glared at Harry, rage in his eyes. “Leashed by Dumbledore! And bound to that traitor!”

Harry sat back in his seat calmly.

“At their beck and call,” Charmling hissed. “Such a waste of dark power.”

“So,” Harry said. “What did the Dark Lord offer then?”

“Your power,” Charmling snarled and the two Aurors gasped. “He said if I killed you with that silver knife, he could give me your dark magic!”

“And why would you want that?” Harry asked in interest.

Charmling deflated at Harry’s tone and just stared at him.

“Why would you want my dark magic?” Harry repeated without any emotion in his voice.

There was a glint in Charmling’s eyes and Harry wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the man’s answer.

“I tried other ways first,” Charmling said as he glared at Harry.

“To take my dark magic away?” Harry questioned calmly, the Aurors shifted uncomfortably at their post.

“Yes!” Charmling growled. “But that overgrown bat had gotten there first!”

“So, the Dark Lord offered you a different way,” Harry said blandly.

“Yes!” Charmling confessed then seemed to remember where he was and looked around with large eyes. “But you can’t use this against me!”

“Why is that?” Harry questioned. “You have answered all my questions without coercion, spell or potion. In front of two lawyers, two Aurors and a member of the Department of Mysteries.”

Charmling’s lawyer groaned as Harry smirked.

“But,” Charmling stuttered and looked down at the potion vial on the ground and picked it up.

“The up side to having a lover that’s a potion master,” Harry said with a dark smirk. “Is he always has an empty potion vial on him.”

Charmling snarled and lunged at him but the two Aurors jumped forward and grabbed him before he could reach Harry.

“You will be happy to know,” Harry said, as Charmling struggled. “That your plan would never have worked. No one can take my dark or light power away from me.”

Charmling stopped struggling in the hands holding him as his eyes widened.

“Yes, Mr Charmling.” Harry said, and sat forward in his seat with a smirk. “You may call me a Dark Wizard but I am just as much a Light Wizard as well.”

The Aurors sat him back into the seat and stood just behind him with a hand on either shoulder as the man just gapped at him.

“Yes,” Harry said softly. “Now, does the name Graham Simpson mean anything to you?”

Charmling just looked at him blankly.

“Okay,” Harry said and looked at the two Aurors. “I’m done.”

“You waste that power!” Charmling hissed. “Held on a leash! Bound by a traitor!”

Harry sat back in his seat as Charmling was dragged from the room yelling and screaming. He was sure that no one would think the man innocent anymore as his yells echoed back to them as the man was led through the Auror Department.

“Well,” Harry said as he looked over the mess on the floor. “That was enlightening…and a waste of time.”

“Should help our case against him,” Mr boulder said. “We will be in touch Mr Smith.”

Charmling’s lawyer just looked lost as he looked around, before grabbing up his brief case and leaving the room. Kingsley came in and stood in the doorway.

“He is still yelling,” Kingsley said. “What was in that police record?”

Harry sighed and with a flick of his wand everything cleaned itself up and jumped back up onto the table and Kingsley stepped forward and opened the police file. Harry slipped his badge and the potion vial back into his pocket.

“Relation to the Riddle family,” Harry said softly. “Still don’t know why he was after dark magic. I would say that the Dark Lord went looking for someone in the Ministry when Albus couldn’t find a Defence teacher and since Charmling was an Auror-”

“Is that all Blake?” Boulder cut in sharply.

“Um, Yes.” Harry said with a grin. “I was just thinking out loud, Mr Boulder. Thank you.”

Boulder gave him a nod and headed out the door, leaving Kingsley and Harry alone.

“He was just another person drawn to a Dark Lord,” Harry said sadly.

“I must admit,” Kingsley said softly. “I didn’t see it coming. He’s a nice bloke and a good Auror.”

“Oh, well.” Harry said as he got to his feet. “No harm done. We sorted it all out in the end.”

“Blake,” Kingsley said and grabbed his arm. “He stabbed you. You almost died, that is not 'no harm done'.”

“Everyone I care about are still alive,” Harry said softly. “I call that a win.”

Kingsley held his stare.

“Even if I had to pay the price,” Harry whispered.

Kingsley released him like he had been burnt and Harry gave him a sad smile.

“Good afternoon, Kingsley.”

“Afternoon, Blake.”

xXx

Severus looked up when the volume in the Great Hall dimmed slightly before picking up again in hissing whispers. Blake stood in the doorway in his suit as he leaned on his cane casually. He saw a couple of seventh year girls giving him looks as the other man moved into the hall.

“He looks dashing all dressed up in his adult clothes,” Dracka announced, making Minerva snort. “Now if only we could make him look like a wizard instead of a muggle.”

Severus smirked as he watched his lover and he wasn’t the only one, he was gathering a bit of attention as he limped towards the Head Table and Severus wondered if the other man even noticed.

Blake stopped on the other side of the table and placed a half-full potion vial on the table in front of Severus. Dracka swiped it off the table with a smirk aimed towards the potions master.

“What’s this?” Dracka asked.

“Veritaserum,” Blake replied with a smirk. “Please try some.”

Dracka quickly placed it back on the table like it might bite him.

“What did Charmling have to say?” Severus asked.

“Oh,” Blake said casually. “He was disappointed that I am bound to an overgrown bat and that Albus holds me under a tight leash.”

Minerva snorted into her coffee as Albus chuckled. Blake ran his fingers around his collar and pulled at his tie.

“I don’t know, Albus.” Blake said turning to the man. “I think you collar is getting a little loose.”

Blake loosened his tie and flicked it over his head before placing it before the Headmaster.

“I think it needs resizing,” Blake said with a wink and walked away.

Dracka barked a laugh as the others watched the man in amusement. Albus passed the tie to Severus with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I think you would have better luck than I would, my boy.” Albus said to the younger man.

xXx

Harry stared at the black cube on the dining table, which was holding some papers down as he looked over some first-year files. He had yet to work out what the cube did which was another annoyance. None of the first-year students jumped out at him and none of the other teachers had passed him a file for a new student so far.

Harry tapped his pen on the table. Normally he would have gotten at least a couple of new students but so far this year, nothing. There were a few students that had been pulled from the school, mostly in seventh year or in Slytherin but it hadn’t made much of an impact to the school population. A knock sounded on his door and he was glad for the break.

“Come in,” Harry called.

Dracka stepped into the room, looking over the table.

“Dracka,” Harry greeted. “Please tell me you have a new student for me?”

“Ah,” Dracka said, stopping. “Am I supposed to?”

Harry sighed and leaned back in his seat.

“I was hoping for some new students,” Harry explained. “Fresh blood and all.”

Dracka grinned at the other man and took a seat at the table.

“Does your table always look like this?” Dracka asked.

“No,” Harry replied. “Sometimes it’s worse. I swear that Severus’s fingers twitch every time he sees the table like this.”

“Where is Severus?” Dracka asked looking over the files.

“Ry blew up a cauldron,” Harry said with a smirk. “Severus has already remined me that I owe him 20 Galleons.”

“He charges you?” Dracka asked in surprise.

“It’s up to about a one thousand and twenty-five.”

“Mr Potter that bad at potions?”

“Ah,” Harry said, rubbing his neck. “I may have ‘borrowed’ a couple.”

“Ha!” Dracka laughed.

“What did you want?” Harry asked with a grin.

Dracka pulled out a file and placed it on the table.

“Ah,” Harry cried grabbing up the file and flicking it open. “Blaise Zabini?”

“The boy has vampire blood in him,” Dracka confirmed.

“Ha!” Harry smirked. “I knew it!”

Dracka eyed off the cube on the desk. “What is that thing?”

“What’s what?” Harry asked looking up from the file.

“That thing,” Dracka said pointing at the cube.

“No idea,” Harry replied. “German ministry gave it to me in payment years ago.”

“It has light magic in it,” Dracka said, eyeing it off.

“Really?” Harry asked picking up the cube but he couldn’t feel or see anything.

“It’s soft but there.”

“Do you know what it is?”

Dracka shook his head. “It looks like it pulls magic in but besides that I have no idea.”

“Oh well,” Harry replied. “One day…so how are your classes going?”

Dracka groaned. “Let’s just say that Dumbledore isn’t paying me enough to teach seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin classes.”

xXx

“Mr Sun.”

Harry turned at Draco’s voice and gave the blonde a smile.

“Mr Malfoy,” Harry said as he moved towards the Slytherin. “How are you? How is your mother?”

“She's well,” Draco replied, looking nervous.

“Did you want to talk in my office?” Harry asked in concern when the boy didn’t say anything more.

“Um,” Draco looked away.

“Come on,” Harry said with a smile and walked off down the hall with the Slytherin following behind.

“Your griffin,” Draco suddenly blurted as Harry went to open his office door and he paused.

Harry gave a chuckle and moved towards his rooms instead and opened the door. Draco stood nervously in the doorway as Harry went in. Severus looked up from his book to see Draco standing in the doorway.

“Come in, Draco.” Harry called over his shoulder. “Leave the door open.”

“Have a seat, Draco.” Severus said with a smile as he put his book to the side. “How's your mother?”

Harry smirked as he slipped into his office attached to his room and hunted around for the gold griffin as Draco and Severus spoke quietly in the other room. It looked like the thing had wandered off again and he cursed.

“Draco can you call it?” Harry called out. “I can’t find it.”

When silence only greeted him, he ducked back out of the room.

“Can you call it?” Harry repeated. “It’s wandered off.”

Severus snorted and sat back in his seat as he crossed his ankles before him.

“Maybe you should you check the greenhouse?” Severus drawled and Harry paled.

“Oh, god.” Harry muttered and rubbed his head. “I can’t face Professor Sprout again.”

Ry, Ron and Hermione looked through the open door into the room.

“Hey, Dad.” Ry said with a smile. “Why is your door open?”

Severus sighed.

“Come in you lot,” Harry called as he moved to the bedroom to look for the griffin.

“Blake,” Severus warned.

“What?” Harry asked. “Did you find it?”

Ry paled and backed up towards the door, with Ron and Hermione looking after him puzzled.

“What did you lose, Mr Sun?” Hermione asked.

“Is it something that we want to find?” Ry asked his father and Harry grinned.

“The griffin,” Harry replied. “It’s walked off.”

Ry paled even more as he stepped out of the room.

“Bye, Dad.” Ry called over his shoulder.

Ron and Hermione shared a look.

“Have you tried summoning it?” Hermione asked and Severus snorted.

“You can’t summon it,” Harry said from the bedroom. “It’s glass. It reflects spells.”

“You two should probably leave,” Severus said mildly to Hermione and Ron.

“Yes, sir.” The pair said as they left, closing the door behind them.

Severus and Draco looked over when they heard a bang and a curse from the bedroom. Draco’s eye caught on a glint of gold as the griffin poked its head around the office door and looked around. Draco pointed it out to Severus.

“Blake,” Severus called over his shoulder.

The griffin looked over at his voice and then it saw Draco and bolted over with a squeak.

“Oh, you found it.” Harry called as he came into the room. “Well Draco, enjoy, it’s all yours.”

Severus paled as the griffin landed on his godson’s hand.

“Is that safe, Blake?” Severus asked.

“What?” Harry asked, as he came back into the room. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well,” Severus drawled. “It did tear through some death eaters and grow to quite a large size.”

“Nah, it’s perfectly safe.” Harry said with a grin. “It’s mostly out of magic now anyway. Never know, Mr Malfoy. It might save your life one day.”

Severus and Draco shared a look as the griffin rolled onto its back with its legs in the air on the boy's palm.

“Why does the glass not cut?” Draco asked in interest.

“The beak does,” Severus muttered.

Harry laughed as he moved towards the kitchen.

“It feeds off magic, so it needs to be around people and magic to charge up, you could say. Would be pointless if it cut you every time it moved.” Harry called back. “It took over a year of absorbing magic to grow to the size it did and I boosted it with as much magic as I could as well. It’s only dangerous in its other form…well except for its beak. Could never work that bit out.”

The griffin had jumped up onto the lounge and curled up on the back of it and fallen asleep while Harry made a coffee. He casually scooped up the figurine up in his hand as he moved back into the room and held it out to Draco.

“I, Blake Sun.” Harry said with a wink at the boy. “Pass this onto Draco Malfoy.”

The magic settled around them as Harry dropped the griffin into the boy’s open hand. The griffin opened an eye and looked up at him before curling back up.

“And all the responsibility that entails,” Severus muttered.

Harry barked a laugh as Draco looked a little pale but his grey eyes glinted as he looked down at the griffin in his hand.

xXx

Harry placed another file on the pile to the left of him. He frowned down at the table in puzzlement. He had been working through reports from Dracka about Graham Simpson’s movements and the attack on Dracka’s Coven without any luck. He was trying to find a connection between the man and Voldemort but nothing was jumping out at him and he was getting a little frustrated.

His mind just kept coming back to the attack, it was too well funded and worked out for the level that Simpson should be at. The man was nothing special, yes, he was a powerful wizard, but he wasn’t a Dark Lord and he hadn’t gone through any rituals to increase his power and yet had three giants at his disposal and other dark creatures including vampires.

Harry tapped his pen against the table as he read through a file written in German from the Ministry of Magic over there. Why did Simpson leave the country to attack the Council in France? Nothing made sense. Harry knew nothing about the man, he was unknown factor in this war and it scared him.

“Come in,” Harry called at the knock at the door.

Dracka walked into the room with a few more files in his hand.

“Thanks,” Harry said taking the files.

“Form my spies in Germany,” Dracka said as he took a seat. “As far as we can tell Simpson has gone to ground.”

“After the attack on the Council?” Harry muttered. “How did he have so many people and creatures at his disposal? Why did he attack the Council?”

Dracka just shrugged his shoulders as he sat back in his seat. Harry looked through the reports. Both men glanced up as Severus came through the door.  He took one look at the files scattered across the table and went straight to the kitchen while Dracka smirked after him.

Harry picked up his phone sitting on the table and dialled the Headmaster.

“Albus Dumbledore,” The Headmaster answered.

“Do you have those files on the Dark Lord’s movements before he was reborn?” Harry asked.

“No,” Albus replied. “I’m still compiling them together. I have the files of his movements after he was reborn. I was going to bring them down to you.”

“Thanks, Albus.” Harry said hanging up.

“Do you think there is a connection?” Dracka asked as Severus moved back into the room with three mugs.

Harry tapped his pen a couple of times in thought.

“I don’t know,” Harry said quietly. “He seems to have gotten too much support too quickly.”

“Could the Dark Lord have supplied it to split our attention?” Severus asked.

“Do you think that the Council would have been able to hold back the attack without our support?” Harry asked Dracka instead of answering Severus as he thought through the man’s question.

“We would have put up a good fight,” Dracka said with a toothy grin.

“So, that’s a no.” Harry answered for him. “So, Severus you might have a point maybe it was a distraction or to see how we would react…or even to see if we would honour the Treaty. If the Council had fallen it would have left a lot of groups scattered as well, which a Dark Lord would have enjoyed coming along and picking up.”

“You think the Dark Lord was testing us by sending Simpson to attack the Council?” Dracka asked.

“Bit of a stretch?” Harry asked, sitting back in his seat.

“Possibly,” Dracka replied.

Harry turned back to his files and reports as Severus and Dracka moved over to the lounge. The two men’s quiet conversation calming him as he read through the new reports from Dracka. He nodded at the Headmaster as he came in with the files Harry wanted. Something wasn’t making sense to him.

“Professor Quirrell,” Harry said suddenly.

“What was that, my boy?” Albus asked.

“Professor Quirrell,” Harry said turning to the other men. “He picked up the spirit of the Dark Lord. Do you know where he was when he did that?”

Albus sat back in his seat thinking.

“Somewhere in Europe?” Albus said slowly. “Severus?”

Severus nodded in agreement, which didn’t narrow it down any in Harry’s mind.

“This was before Ry started school,” Harry said voicing his thoughts. “So, his spirit could have been floating for a while. Do we know when Simpson was exiled from the states? Was he born there?”

“He first appeared in Germany in the late eighties,” Dracka replied. “He didn’t start making waves until later.”

“Albus,” Harry asked softly. “Would you be able to look into whether he went to school at one of the magical schools in America?”

“I can do that,” Albus said with a smile.

“You don’t have contacts in America, Blake?” Severus asked in interest.

“Um, not really.” Harry said distracted. “They are a little closed when it comes to magic. Only worked at the Gringotts branch a few times and they only reluctantly gave me those contracts when they couldn't find a master curse breaker there to do the work.”

“Do you think that Simpson may have come across the Dark Lord’s spirit?” Albus asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry replied. “I just have a feeling that there might be a connection.”

“That is concerning,” Dracka said.

“None of the files here say that either man have met or even corresponded.” Harry said throwing his pen down in frustration.

“What makes you think there is a connection?” Severus asked.

“The fact he had three giants,” Harry said grabbing one of the files of the battle. “He had too much support. Before the battle, your spies Dracka report that he only had a few people following him and yet when he attacked the Council he had three giants and vampires on his side. Not to mention the number of wizards and witches.”

“Do we know why he attacked the Council?” Severus asked.

“Nope,” Harry said. “And with that curse breaker he would have gotten through the wards I placed if I wasn’t there. Did the Dark Lord make a move while we were fighting Simpson, Albus?”

“Not that we are aware of,” Albus said rubbing his beard in thought.

“Then Charmling went straight for me before he tried to kill you Albus,” Harry said thinking back. “He took me out first. He knew to act quickly.”

Severus paled at Harry’s words as the image of the bleeding body of his lover laying lifeless on the stones of Hogwarts came to his mind

“He knew you were the biggest threat,” Dracka said quietly.

“Exactly,” Harry said. “He knew for his plan to work, he had to take me down, not only first, but fast as well. He didn’t go for you Severus or McGonagall or even Flitwick. He went straight for me and took me out before I could react.”

“He must have known about the battle,” Dracka said slowly.

“Or it was your classes, Blake,” Severus added in.

“Maybe,” Harry replied. “I’m leaning more towards him knowing I took out a giant and boosted the wards and yet when I questioned him he didn’t react to Simpson’s name.”

The three men sat back in their seats as Harry tapped his pen against the table.

“If they are working together,” Albus said slowly. “Simpson would have to be taken out before Voldemort.”

“That,” Harry said, pointing his pen at the Headmaster. “Might be the point.”

“He is just a wizard,” Dracka said darkly.

“That we know of,” Harry said in agreement. “He is not a Dark Lord, I would have felt it that day of the battle.”

“But if he has come into contact with the spirit of Voldemort…” Albus said slowly.

“He may know how to take that next step,” Harry finished for him, which was a sobering thought.

The last thing they needed were two Dark Lords working together against them. It could bring down the magical community and not just in Britain.


	3. Chapter Nineteen

"I need Severus to identify some death eaters," Albus asked.

"Why are you asking me and not him?" Harry asked with a frown as he took a sip of his coffee.

They were in his rooms at the school and Harry's bag was already on the table ready to go in two days' time.

"I thought I should run it passed you since you are heading out of the country," Albus said. "And I would need him to be close to the death eaters to identify them."

Harry leaned back in his seat and pulled out his mobile phone and called Severus's number.

"Yes?" Severus drawled.

"Can you come down to my rooms, please?" Harry said into his phone, his eyes not leaving Albus's. "Albus has a mission for you."

"Why are you calling me then?"

"I believe that Albus is asking for my blessing," Harry replied as Albus snorted into his tea.

"Oh, god." Severus replied.

Harry hung up the phone and placed the device on the table as they waited. Severus walked in through the door and looked over at the two men at the table and Harry's bag then sighed. Harry waved his hand to Albus and the man looked at him in amusement.

"Severus," Albus said with a smile. "I need you to identify some death eaters."

Severus frowned as he took a seat at the table and eyed off Harry's bag.

"Okay, explain." Severus replied.

"I'll need you to go out with a team to where Voldemort is hiding," Albus explained. "You have the best knowledge of his original death eaters. We are hoping you can tell us who is new to his ranks. We think that some of them will be past students of this school."

Severus frowned at the Headmaster before looking over at Harry.

"When?" Severus asked.

"Saturday night," Albus replied. "I just got word that he is calling a meeting at the Riddle house."

"Blake?" Severus asked as he looked at the bag on the table.

"I'll be in Russia," Harry replied. "I'll be leaving Thursday lunch time until Monday. They need a curse breaker to break down some wards on a house that Gringotts are claiming."

Harry watched Severus lean back in his seat and look between Harry and the Headmaster. Harry gave him a smile as he picked up his coffee, letting the man think it through.

"If you run into trouble," Harry said softly. "It will take me time to get back here. You will have to trust the Order to come to your aid."

"We will back you up the whole way, Severus." Albus said calmly. "We'll be using the scopes that Blake managed to get for us."

"Is this a marking?" Severus asked softly.

"We think so," Albus replied.

Harry frowned and his hands clenched around his cup.

"So," Severus drawled. "There is more of a chance that the new death eaters will not be wearing masks and the inner circle being there. You know he will have a lot of his followers there if this is a marking, Albus."

"Yes," Albus said in agreement and his eyes flicked to Harry.

"Did you want me to leave?" Harry asked.

"No," Albus and Severus said at the same time and Harry smiled.

"Could you reschedule, Blake?" Severus asked.

"No, sorry." Harry replied. "I've already signed the contract with the goblins."

Severus sighed.

"Very well," Severus said softly.

"Thank you, my boy." Albus said with a smile. "We'll met in my office after lunch on Saturday. Good afternoon, boys."

"Good afternoon, Albus."

Albus gave them a smile as he left the rooms leaving the two men alone. Severus turned to Harry and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Why did you ask to leave?" Severus asked with a frown.

"Order business," Harry replied. "I'm not in the Order Severus."

"Dracka?" Severus asked.

"Is not part of the Order," Harry replied. "As far as I know."

Severus frowned and Harry sighed.

"Albus is the Head of the Order of the Phoenix, Severus." Harry said. "It is up to him the way that he works with the members of the Order and it is up to you about what you do."

Severus's eyes fell on Harry's bag again on the table. Harry reached over and placed a hand on Severus's arm.

"If you get into trouble," Harry said softly. "I will head back as quickly as I can Severus."

"That would break your contract?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed then gave him a smile. "You'll be fine. Albus is good with planning and I'm sure that Dracka can have some men on hand."

Severus groaned.

"I'm not a child," Severus spat.

Harry smirked and raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I'm not saying a word on that subject," Harry replied mildly.

Severus glared at him.

xXx

Severus was sprawled out on his stomach on the ground, on a slight hill, overlooking the Riddle house with five other Order members further back behind him as he lifted the scope and looked through it to see Voldemort and his followers out the back of the Riddle mansion. He held the scope still as he wrote down names on the piece of paper next to him on the ground. He could easily pick out the original members of Voldemort circle and a few students that he had taught over the years.

None of the newer members coming forward were current students and he sighed. He was also glad for the fact that there was a silencing charm around the mansion and grounds as people were led forward and he was sure that he would have been able to hear screaming from here as the marking went ahead.

Remus crawled up beside him and Severus passed the scope over to him. The man glanced through it then paled and handed it back.

"Have you seen enough?" Remus whispered.

"More than enough," Severus replied. "But give me another half an hour for every one of them to be marked."

Remus patted the man's shoulder and crept back as Severus turned back to the scope and the notebook. Over half an hour later he crept back to the other Order members and they moved away from the mansion silently. From the looks on the men and women's faces they would have liked to have raided the mansion instead of letting the marking go ahead but there had been nothing they could do with Voldemort on the scene.

"How was Blake about letting you be here?" Remus asked quietly.

"I think he would have like to have been here to back us up," Severus replied, making sure they couldn't be over heard. "He's in Russia."

"What's he doing there?" Remus asked in interest.

"Something for the goblins," Severus replied.

xXx

Harry cursed as he looked around at the ghost hounds circling him and wondered how he'd gotten into this situation as he glanced over at the heavy-set blonde man beside him.

"Orders?" Ivic asked in Russian as he looked around.

"Stay still," Harry ordered also in Russian. "Do not move or attack."

"That is your plan?"

"It is at the moment."

The man glared over at him as Harry held his silver sword out in front of him hoping that Severus was having better luck than he was as one of the ghost hounds snarled at him.

xXx

"Duck!"

Severus dropped with Remus beside him as the death eater stepped out from behind a wall and sent a spell hurling in their direction. Remus pushed him as they felt anti-apparation wards fare up and Severus cursed. They quickly moved further down the street as more death eaters started to appear. Severus shot a spell over his shoulder as Remus forced a door open of one of the houses.

They tumbled into the dark house and dashed straight through to the back and quickly over the fence of the property next door. Remus went to climb the next fence when Severus pulled him back and behind a small shed. They huddled down behind the steel shed as they heard voices and movement as the death eaters sprinted through the yard then it went quiet.

Severus peered around the side of the shed to see the empty garden and pushed Remus back towards the fence they had first gone over. They made their way back into the house and back out onto the street. Severus shrugged out of his robes, shrunk them and placed them away in his pocket. Remus quickly did the same, the werewolf looking to the spy for direction.

Severus grabbed the man's hand and stepped closer to him and Remus looked over in surprise as they passed a few people on the quiet streets. They were heading away from the Riddle mansion and Severus hoped they could make it to the edge of the wards without being spotted again.

"Do you think it was a scouting party?" Severus asked as he leaned close to the other man.

"I'm not sure," Remus replied, tense under his hand. "We scoped out the area over the last two days."

Severus cursed, surprising Remus.

"Then there is more of a chance they picked up on you," Severus replied.

Shouting sounded and Severus pushed Remus up against the wall. The other man squeaked as Severus covered his body with his taller frame and looked down into the wide eyes of the werewolf. Severus gave him a wink and leaned forward.

"Keep an eye out," Severus whispered into his neck.

He felt Remus nod as Severus held him still.

"Two death eaters to the right," Remus whispered. "There's a vampire coming up to them."

"Let's hope it's one of Dracka's men," Severus muttered.

Severus glanced over before stepping back from Remus as the vampire tore into the two death eaters. Remus paled with his eyes wide as the vampire took down the last death eater and moved towards them. Severus tensed as he took Remus's hand again and pulled him forward.

They could see the vampire's red eyes shining from here and Severus could feel how tense the man was beside him. The vampire leered as he got closer, he had long brown hair and his eyes were blue, once he got control of his demon.

"Order, _oui_?" The man asked with a strong French accent.

"Yes," Severus confirmed and released Remus's hand.

The man pulled out one of the message stones and turned it for Severus to see.

'How many in your team? Dracka,' was written on the stone in Dracka's curving script.

"Six," Severus replied. "Including us."

The vampire handed him the stone.

"Think Dracka and message," The man said.

Severus did as he was ordered and the message came up on the stone as if he'd written it. He passed it back to the vampire, who leered at him and gave him a nod. The man looked back down at the stone.

"Follow me," The man said and moved off, without waiting for a reply.

Severus went to follow when Remus grabbed his shoulder.

"Is it safe?" Remus hissed.

"Yes," Severus said with a small smile. "He's one of Dracka's men."

There would have been a time in his life that following after a vampire when there were death eaters around, with a werewolf at his side and the Riddle mansion a few streets away. Would have been a situation that Severus didn't think he would have found himself in. That was before Blake came into his life. The vampire waved his hand at the next corner and they hugged the wall and waited.

Suddenly two death eaters appeared from around the corner running and the vampire grabbed the closest one and plunged his fangs down into the man's neck before he could cry out. The wizard winched at the sight before moving into action.

Severus quickly sent a spell at the other one while Remus's spell followed his and the man fell hard to the ground. The vampire let the person in his grip go and looked over his shoulder at the two wizards and Severus shivered at the sight of the red eyes and blood dripping down the man's chin.

Severus grabbed Remus's wrist and pushed his wand down.

"No cursing the vampires," Severus hissed, then realised that he sounded like Blake and smirked.

The vampire waved his hand and they moved closer. The vampire crouched down and peered around the corner quickly.

"Back other way," The vampire hissed when he got to his feet and the three men were running.

Shouting sounded behind them as they skittered around a corner and Severus quickly pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and ran a line from one wall to the other.

"Severus!" Remus hissed.

Severus ignored him as he brought up a protection ward and the chalk line flared. It wouldn't be as powerful as a circle but it should hold as he poured as much power into it as he could and the barrier flared blue in colour before he ran after the other two men.

xXx

"This plan is not working," Ivic snarled as the beasts started to circle around them as Harry held his silver sword out.

"Do you have a better one?" Harry asked as he watched the beasts.

"You have magic," Ivic hissed. "Use it!"

"Against what!" Harry hissed. "They don't have a form! Plus, me using magic is what made them to appear to begin with!"

"You can't do something about that?"

Harry paused, since the ghost hounds had no form they couldn't be killed but from the pain in his arm and leg from where one had latched onto him they could cause pain, but no physical damage. Harry and Ivic had been separated from the rest of the team when they had stepped through a doorway that had taken them to another part of the house and now they stood in some kind of indoor garden with the ghost hounds snarling at them.

Ivic was the closest relative to the woman that had owned the house but he didn't have magic so the house didn't recognise him as the owner but he did share the same blood which had gotten them through the door. It had gone downhill quickly after that.

"Tell me about your mother?" Harry asked instead.

"She was a kind woman," Ivic said, as he looked at the beasts. "Then about six months ago something changed. She closed up the house and wouldn't let anyone into it. She used to open it on weekends to tourists. It is a very old house, people would have weddings here."

"Was it a sudden change?" Harry asked, as he swiped his blade when a beast got too close and it backed off.

"She stopped calling me," Ivic said quietly. "She would call me at least once a week maybe more. Then stopped."

Harry started to have a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"You were born without magic?" Harry asked softly.

"Yes," The man confirmed. "I work in an office building in Moscow. My mother set up an account for me so that I would inherent her money after she passed. It did not feel right to get money without working."

Harry grinned over at the man and he returned the smile. Suddenly his walkie talkie crackled and Harry slipped it off his belt.

"Sun," Harry said into it, but it just crackled.

His phone was useless as well, whatever magic was on this house was blocking communication spells and he couldn't pick up a muggle phone tower. He flicked his sword out when one of the hounds jumped forward and pushed it back.

"Tell me more," Harry said softly. "What did your mother like?"

"Her garden," Ivic replied.

Harry looked around the garden, seeing the neat garden beds but the plants had over taken it now.

"And her dogs," Ivic said softly and looked at the beasts.

"Afghan Hounds?" Harry asked as one of the ghost hounds snarled at them.

"Yes," Ivic replied. "And Mastiffs."

Harry's eyes widened when he could only see hounds milling around but the animals seemed to be calming as Ivic spoke.

"Tell me what she was like?" Harry said softly. "What type of flowers did she like?"

"Roses," Ivic replied as he looked around. "She liked orange roses."

Harry's radio crackled again and he could start to hear parts of words coming through the static.

"Keep going," Harry said, then stepped to the side as a hound tried to take a bite out of his leg. "Did she show her dogs?"

"Yes, yes." Ivic replied with a smile. "She did very good. I don't know where they are now."

One of the beasts snarled at them.

"I can guess," Harry said softly.

xXx

"You did magic?" The vampire asked thickly.

"Yes," Severus replied as he caught up with the other two. "Should give us some time."

"I no magic," The vampire said. "Too young."

Severus and Remus looked at the other man in interest as they ran but they were running out of streets as the houses started to thin and yet they couldn't apparate or portkey until they got passed the wards which seemed to just keep going.

"Where is Dracka?" Severus panted.

"Outside wards," The vampire replied. "You want me to call?"

Severus yelped and ducked as a spell sailed over his head and tripped on the sidewalk as the vampire pushed Remus to the side and down an alley.

"I call!" The vampire called as Severus scrambled along the ground as spells crashed around him and he quickly pulled up a shield but that just made them start throwing the killing curse which just went straight through.

Severus finally made it into the alley and Remus pulled him until he was behind cover as the vampire held the message stone in his hand. Then Severus stomach dropped as he felt something along the connection with Blake.

"Dracka come," The vampire hissed as he crouched down, his red eyes shining as he peered around the corner. "They have vampire."

Severus shivered at the man's words as he felt the link with Blake indicating that something was wrong. Severus pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Blake's number but it just beeped at him and he paled even more. That had never happened before when he'd called Blake's number. He looked up at Remus.

"What's wrong?" The man hissed.

"Blake," Severus replied. "Come on."

Severus grabbed the man's shoulder and they were moving further down the alley with the vampire watching them but not moving from his place on the corner. Severus waved at him but the vampire just flashed his fangs in his direction.

Severus and Remus paused as a man swung around the corner with a wand out and Severus had to grab Remus's wrist as the man looked up with red eyes. Dracka leered at them and barked something at the other vampire that had the man running towards them.

"We can't go that way," Dracka said quickly as the vampire drew even with them.

Dracka grabbed the man by the back of the neck and pulled him close, whispering something in his ear, the position looking very intimate as Dracka held the man. The man nodded and dashed back down the alleyway to where he'd been before. Severus quickly pulled out his piece of chalk and ran a line over the entrance to the alley and brought up a protection ward.

"The other way doesn't look great either," Severus said as he moved towards the vampire and he flashed his fangs at him and Severus just smirked.

Dracka lifted his nose into the air before turning to Severus.

"The Dark Lord has moved into town," Dracka said. "Everyone else is out. It's just us. Come on."

The three men moved back to the younger vampire and Dracka knelt next to him and they spoke quietly in French as Severus and Remus kept an eye out.

"Dracka," Severus called.

The man looked up in question.

"Can you call Blake?"

"Blake?" Dracka asked as he looked around.

"His number isn't working," Severus said quickly.

"We have enough problems, Severus." Dracka said quickly. "Let's get out of this first then deal with Blake. He can look after himself."

Dracka turned back to the vampire next to him and said something in French and the man nodded and looked up at the second story window across the alley. The man quickly dashed across the alley and Severus watched in amazement as the man quickly scaled the side of the building and broke the window to get in as glass rained down.

"Can you all do that?" Severus asked Dracka, whom gave the man leer before peering around the corner.

"Your ward is holding Severus," Dracka hissed. "Liam is going to try and take them from the other side. We need to move into place."

"Okay, lead the way vampire." Severus snapped and Remus snorted.

Dracka flashed his fangs at him and moved out of the alley with Severus and Remus following behind. Remus stayed further back as Severus and Dracka took point. There were four death eaters using spells to smash into the barrier Severus had placed. Dracka cocked his head to the side as he looked at it and glanced over at Severus.

"Have you been taking lessons from Blake?" Dracka drawled.

Severus just smirked at him as they took cover behind a steel bin and waited for Liam to get into place behind the death eaters.

"Severus, get ready to drop it." Dracka said softly as he looked down at the message stone in his hand.

xXx

Harry cried out as a beast lunged at him. He wasn't quick enough to get his sword up as it latched onto his arm and he dropped his sword with a curse as Ivic scrambled back across the ground. Pain shot through Harry's arm and he instinctively lashed out with dark magic. That just made the beast more solid as it ripped into him and the pain increased. There was no real damage but Harry could feel the pain of the beast's jaw tearing into his skin.

"Keep talking about your mother!" Harry called out as he tried to get the beast off his arm as other beasts circled around.

"Why?"

"This is your mother's house!" Harry yelped as the beast pulled him forward. "You are her son!"

"She gave me one of her dogs," Ivic stuttered as the beasts circled around him. "A beautiful tri coloured bitch, just because I said I liked her."

The beast stopped pulling Harry forward and he gritted his teeth at the pain in his arm.

"What did your mother look like?" Harry gasped.

"She had long blonde hair that was straight," Ivic said as his eyes flicked around at the beasts. "And bright blue eyes and had such a beautiful smile. She would light up a room."

The hound released Harry as Ivic spoke and he quickly summoned his sword between them and the hound jumped back.

"Father was a hard man," Ivic kept going. "Very rough but mother would always have time for us."

The beasts started to back up as the young man spoke.

"When father died, I came to live here for a while." Ivic said softly and looked around at the over grown garden. "It didn't look like this before."

Harry sighed as the ghost hounds started to lose their forms as Ivic spoke and he pulled back his magic completely and held it close. The radio crackled and Harry could pick out his name being called over it amongst the static.

"Did she spend a lot of time here?" Harry asked as he pulled himself to his feet and winched at the pain in his arm and leg.

" _Da_ ," Ivic replied. "She would say that magic had a life and so did plants. You have to work with them and take care of them for them both to grow."

"I would have liked your mother," Harry said softly as the ghost hounds lost their forms completely and they were alone in the garden again.

"What did you do?" Ivic asked looking around.

"That wasn't me." Harry said and clapped a hand to the young man's shoulder. "That was you. Your mother is right. Magic has a way of making a life for itself."

"Sun?" A voice crackled over the radio.

"Sun here," Harry replied to the radio.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Tell everyone to pull back," Harry ordered. "This house already has an owner. The goblins can't claim it."

"What! Sun!" Static overtook the man's words as the radio crackled.

Harry looked over at Ivic and the man just looked puzzled.

"Your mother's last gift," Harry said softly. "We just need to break the dark curse that killed her."

Ivic flinched back as a roar sounded through the house and Harry sighed. Some days just weren't worth getting out of bed for as the walkie talkie died in his hand.

xXx

"Okay, Severus." Dracka ordered and pulled his steel sword. "Drop it."

Severus broke his ward just as a death eater spell smashed into it and Dracka rushed forward with his sword as Severus and Remus covered him. Liam came up behind the death eater at the back of the group and quickly took him out. They very quickly took out the group of four death eaters and Severus flinched when Dracka sunk his fangs into one of the men's throats quickly before stepping back. He grabbed Liam by the back of the neck and dragged him back towards the two wizards.

"Come on," Dracka hissed and they were moving.

Liam suddenly flashed his fangs at Severus and Dracka growled low in his throat. Liam's eyes flicked to Dracka before he quickly stepped back and tilted his head slightly before falling back another step. It wasn't until moments like this that Severus remembered that, even if Dracka acted like a wizard, he was still a dark creature as Liam moved to the back of the group while Dracka moved forward. Not a word spoken between the vampires.

"Is this what happens when groups of werewolves come together?" Severus whispered to Remus.

Dracka snorted loudly, having over heard him while Remus gave the man a grin without answering. Liam called out something in French and Dracka stopped them and glanced over his shoulder. Severus's eyes widened when a dark beast, shaped like a large cat, appeared behind them and he froze as the thing's red eyes locked on them.

Dracka jumped forward in front of Severus and Remus with Liam at his shoulder as he held the steel sword out before him.

"We could do with Blake's silver sword about now," Dracka called out. "That thing is made out of dark magic."

"Would a silver knife help?" Severus asked smoothly as he pulled out the silver knife he'd taken from Charmling and held it up for the vampire to see.

Dracka gave him a smirk as the beast started to prowl forward smoothly. Severus moved up towards Dracka as Remus watched their backs.

"How far are we from the edge of the wards?" Severus asked.

"Two more streets," Dracka replied quickly. "We can't outrun that beast. It will take us down."

"Did the Dark Lord cast it?" Severus asked softly.

"I would say so," Dracka replied. "He's getting closer, Severus. We have to make this quick. Liam left side, Severus if you get a chance stab in the heart or head. Try not to let that blade touch us."

Dracka and Liam moved forward with superhuman speed as the beast yowled loudly. The beast swung for Liam first but the man danced away as Dracka attacked its right flank with the sword and the beast turned on him and lunged taking the vampire down. Severus darted forward as quickly as he could as Liam crashed into the beast's side. The vampires tangled with the dark beast as Severus darted in and stabbed his silver knife into its hind leg and it screamed and lashed out with its claws but Severus jumped back, stumbling slightly.

Dracka growled and lashed out at the large cat and it jumped back, swiping its claws out at Liam. The man moved so quickly that if Severus had blinked, he was sure that he would have missed it, as he jumped and twisted in the air before landing on all fours and crashing into the animal's side as Dracka grabbed it around the neck. Severus quickly moved in but before he could attack the beast, it threw Dracka and the man hit the wall on the other side of the alley hard.

Liam lost his hold as Severus darted in and swiped the blade at the thing's left flank. Liam yelped as the blade nicked his arm slightly, burning his skin, and barred his fangs at Severus but the wizard was already turning the blade and digging it in deeply into the beast's chest. The animal screamed and lashed out.

Severus stumbled back as Liam jumped free of the beast.

The younger vampire turned on Severus as the cat screamed and he felt a bolt of fear run through him as the man stared at him with feral red eyes as he moved forward.

"Sorry," Severus gasped.

Liam snarled and lunged forward but Dracka was there and pulling the other man to the ground and getting in the younger vampire's face with his fangs barred and a growl in his throat.

"Finish it," Dracka snapped and Severus bolted for the cat.

Severus quickly plunged the knife into the thing's side and it puffed away into dark mists. He glanced over his shoulder to see Dracka pulling back from the younger vampire and Remus looking very pale. Liam had his head tilted to the side and Severus could see fang marks on his throat and he shivered.

"Move," Dracka snapped and they were running.

Dracka leading the way with Liam two steps behind. Severus and Remus brought up the rear as they crossed the wards and Dracka held out a portkey for them. Severus locked eyes with the vampire over the portkey and he flashed his fangs at him with dark eyes before activating it.

Severus looked around the stone room and sighed, they were safe. Dracka growled slightly and Severus's eyes flicked to him sharply but he was looking at Liam. The younger vampire looked at Severus and tilted his head slightly, making Dracka huff a laugh and hiss something in French.

"Sorry," Liam said in his thick accent. "I am still young. Sorry."

Severus nodded his head and flicked his eyes to Dracka and the man gave him a smile before grabbing Liam's shoulder and moving to the door to the stone room.

"Remus!"

Everyone looked up as Tonks flew across the room and took Remus in a tight hug. The man grinned and hugged the woman back as Dracka huffed a laugh and pushed Liam towards his men to the right of the room. Severus gave them a smirk as Remus and Tonks shared a kiss before he moved towards the Headmaster's desk. The Order were looking over at Dracka's men but Severus could see the respect in the eyes as Dracka spoke quietly to the men and women under his command.

"Are you okay?" Albus asked running his eyes over him.

Severus placed the notebook on the table.

"Yes," Severus replied. "I wrote down all the names, but I think the vampires might have snacked on a few of them."

"I don't think they will be missed," Dracka said from beside him and Severus glanced over at the man.

"How's your head?" Severus asked mildly.

Dracka flashed his fangs at Severus which just made him smirk.

"Just remember vampire healing," Dracka replied with a leer. "Try calling Blake now?"

Severus swore and quickly took out his phone.

"Blake?" Albus asked with a frown.

Severus's phone just beeped at him as Dracka pulled out his phone with the same results.

"Can you call Blake with your landline?" Severus asked and he shared a look with Dracka.

Albus picked up the phone and called him.

"It just beeped twice," Albus replied and placed the phone down. "Should we be concerned?"

Severus focused on the ring and felt unsettlement and the feeling that something was wrong coming through.

"I'm not sure," Severus replied. "I've never had his number fail?"

"Neither have I," Albus replied in concern. "Dracka do you have men in Russia?"

"Not many," Dracka replied. "He is due back Monday?"

"Yes," Severus replied as he looked around at the Order members and the way that a few of the vampires had moved to talk to them, especially Remus and Tonks.

"Could it just be the connection spell in his phone?" Albus asked.

"No," Severus said softly. "I felt something over the connection with the ring. He was in trouble."

Albus sat back in his seat looking a little pale as he glanced around the room.

"I'm not sure what we can do, Severus." Albus said. "He's in Russia. You need approval to go to that country."

Severus ran a hand over his head in agitation and Dracka placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll try to get in contact with the men I have over there," Dracka said softly and moved away from the two men.

"I'm sorry, Severus." Albus said with sadness his eyes.

"You know he would drop everything to help us, Albus." Severus hissed as he glared at the old man and the noise in the room dropped.

"And we would for him," Albus replied. "But he's in Russia, not here."

"The goblins," Severus said and turned to Dracka. "Dracka, the goblins."

The man nodded as he spoke on his phone.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked as he moved closer to them with Remus beside him.

"We have lost contact with Blake," Albus said softly. "Severus thinks he's in trouble."

"Can we do anything to help?" Remus asked.

"He's in Russia," Albus replied. "We can't cross the border without approval."

"The goblins lost contact with Blake and his team on Thursday," Dracka said as he moved over to the others. "They have sent a backup team there but they can't get into the property. The grounds and the house went into lock down after they stepped over the wards. They have a curse breaker there now trying to get in."

"Can they get us into Russia?" Severus asked.

"They are working on it," Dracka replied. "Should have an answer tomorrow morning."

"If you need back up, Severus." Albus said softly, "We'll back you up."

Severus sighed and looked down at the floor, he was concerned for his lover and he hated this feeling of helplessness. He pulled his phone again and tried Blake's number without success. Dracka land a hand on his shoulder.

"Get some sleep, boys." Albus said softly. "Hopefully we'll have some news in the morning."

Everyone broke up after that and Dracka fell into step with Severus as they worked their way down the school.

"Blake can look after himself, Severus." Dracka said softly. "And you know he can't die."

"And if the hallows fail?" Severus hissed, his eyes flashing and Dracka sighed.

"The magic of the hallows are entwined with his own Severus," Dracka replied softly. "I think it would be near impossible for that to change."

"But the possibility is still there," Severus stated.

"let's hope it isn't."

xXx

"Where did your mother die?" Harry asked softly as they moved through the house.

His walkie talkie had failed again and Harry had clipped it back on his belt as they moved through hallway after hallway and room after room. The magic in the house turning them around and Harry was sure they'd moved through the same dance hall four times already.

"She jumped from the tower," Ivic said softly. "I hadn't heard from her in a long time. Then the police called me through the Ministry of Magic."

Harry groaned when he opened the next door to find the dance hall again and he moved to the stage and took a seat on the steps with Ivic beside him. Harry glanced at his watch then the windows, his watch stated it was one am and yet sunlight shone brightly through the windows and into the hall.

"This house, just keeps turning us around." Harry said as he rubbed his head. "The dark magic has soaked into the foundations and the walls. Did your mother have dark magic?"

"I don't know," Ivic replied. "How can a house be working against us?"

"It's what your mother used to say, Ivic." Harry said tiredly. "Magic has a way of finding a life for itself. Come on, we'll find a room and get some sleep."

xXx

Severus didn't sleep well that night and every time he woke he tried to call Blake without any luck and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. At five in the morning he gave up and dressed, it was Sunday morning and the castle was empty when he moved to the front doors and looked out onto the front lawn as he reached for the connection with Blake.

The connection was there and he could feel unease passing over it but nothing else and he sighed and released it as he watched the sun climb on the horizon, from the shadows of the castle.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Severus glanced over at Dracka and he could see that the vampire looked just as tried as he felt.

"No," Severus replied. "Any news?"

"Nothing," Dracka replied as he stepped closer to Severus. "The goblins should be contacting me soon, hopefully with portkeys booked."

"What do you think went wrong?" Severus asked softly.

"Could have been anything, Severus." Dracka replied, "He's a Master Curse Breaker. If he can't break through the wards around this house…"

Severus paled at the thought, if Blake couldn't break through the wards then who would be able to?

"Another Master Curse Breaker?" Severus asked softly and Dracka snorted.

"There's a reason that Blake is always in demand, Severus." Dracka said softly. "It's also the reason that the goblins came over to the Treaty with the Council when Blake asked. They can't afford to lose his talents."

xXx

Harry woke with a start when a roar sounded somewhere in the house and the bed under him shook with the sound. He rolled from the bed and landed in a crouch with his silver sword out as his eyes darted around. Ivic sat up on the lounge with wide eyes as Harry looked around but couldn't find any danger and he dismissed his sword.

"Well," Harry said in amusement. "That works well for an alarm."

"I would rather a kiss from a beautiful woman," Ivic quipped back and Harry grinned over at him. "Maybe more?"

"Always a good way to start the day," Harry agreed. "Bodiless roaring, not so much."

"You have a wife?" Ivic asked.

"I did, once." Harry replied. "Not anymore."

"I am sorry," Ivic replied. "My wife is due with our second baby in a couple of months."

"Have you been married long?" Harry asked in interest. "Any magical babies?"

"About four years," Ivic replied. "My daughter is only two, so we don't know yet. Little Alissa."

Harry froze at the name.

"Alissa?"

" _Da_ , Alissa Smirnov." Ivic said, with a smile. "My wife is English and a witch."

"Ah." Harry said, still feeling a little faint from hearing the girl's name. "Does that mean I can start talking English instead of Russian?"

Ivic barked a laugh and Harry gave him a smile.

"You speak Russian like a native," Ivic said, in amusement. "My English is not as good."

Harry gave the man a grin as he looked around the room before sitting on the bed, to take some weight off his leg.

"Your family are purebloods?" Harry asked carefully.

" _Da_ ," Ivic replied. "Father was not happy when I did not have magic but I was youngest of three."

Harry looked down at his hands, he knew that the man's other siblings were dead and he was the only one still alive and that was due in part to the fact that he didn't have magic.

"Not having magic, saved you Ivic." Harry said softly.

" _Da_ ," The man said as he looked over at Harry. "Any yet, we are trapped here."

"For now," Harry said with a lopsided grin.

xXx

Dracka slipped into his seat next to Severus at the Head Table with a grin.

"Goblins came through," Dracka said. "They have a portkey ready for us to pick up at nine. Bill Weasley will be meeting us at the house."

Severus went to stand but Dracka grabbed his arm.

"The Goblins told me that they only went into the house with food for the day, Severus." Dracka said softly. "That was on Thursday."

Severus paled, three days without food wasn't the concern. It was three days without water. Severus nodded sharply and Dracka let his arm go.

xXx

Harry passed his water bottle over to Ivic to take which was the last of their water. They would have to get out of this house soon. Harry picked up his walkie talkie but it was dead now as well as his phone. The charge having run out. He sighed and placed both away.

"What about the rest of the team?" Ivic asked softly.

"I don't know," Harry replied. "We just need to focus on breaking through the dark curse, which means we need to find the tower."

"How?" Ivic asked as he finished the last of the water. "We walked in circles for hours yesterday."

"Keep a look out," Harry said softly as he slipped out of his shoes and jacket and sat on the bare stone floor. "I'm going to try something."

"Those hounds appeared last time you tried something," Ivic pointed out.

"I know," Harry confirmed. "So, keep a look out."

Harry closed his eyes and opened his mind to the magic in the house tiredly, he was not in the right state of mind to be working like this but didn't have much of a choice. He opened his eyes and Ivic started back from him as he looked into the magic of the room as mists swirled around his vision.

"Your eyes glow," Ivic said softly.

Harry gave him a grin as he pulled himself to his feet, Ivic picked up their gear as Harry stepped out of the room. He had lost his cane somewhere and his leg was not impressed with taking his whole weight as he moved through the house. He had been improving with his potions but one of those ghost hounds had gotten him a good one in the leg. It also didn't help that he didn't have any potions to help him now.

Harry stopped in the hallway and looked into the magic around them, if he wanted to he could have focused in and picked out the spells in the items around him but they were unimportant. He limped along for a while, until something caught his eye and he stopped. It was a door, which looked the same as all the others and yet, the mists around it were lighter in colour.

He reached forward and placed his hand a couple of centimetres away from the wood and looked at the spells closer. A wizard had crafted the door a long time ago and had placed spells on it to keep it looking new and to stop wear. He turned his mind away from the older spells and looked at anything newer.

"That was my old room," Ivic said softly.

Harry started and looked over to the man.

"What?" Harry asked.

"That room," Ivic repeated. "That was my old room."

"Can you place your hand on the door?"

Ivic placed his palm on the door and Harry watched in interest as the spell work parted under his hand, then shivered as something roared. Harry looked around the hall but nothing lunged at them as they stood there.

"Can you open the door?" Harry asked softly.

He could feel something coming as Ivic opened the door and it swung inwards silently. The room beyond was completely dark, not just in shadows, but just darkness. Harry kicked up his magic sight until he could see only the magic and not the real world anymore but it was still just darkness and he pulled back and rubbed his eyes.

"Can you remember your old room well enough to walk through it without opening your eyes?" Harry asked the other man as his eyesight went back to normal.

"It has been a long time," Ivic replied, in amusement. "The room doesn't lead anywhere."

"Is there a bathroom attached or a cupboard?" Harry asked quickly, feeling a darkness coming towards them.

" _Da_ ," Ivic replied. "Both."

"Which one could you lead us too?" Harry said as he summoned his silver sword and Ivic stepped closer.

"Bathroom," Ivic replied. "What is coming?"

At the end of the hallway something was gathering and Harry looked at it with large eyes. Something was there but if he looked at it directly it would slip away from his sight. It was like something was keeping to the corner of his eye and Harry shivered.

"Close your eyes and lead us to the bathroom," Harry ordered as he held out his hand.

His blood froze as the thing at the end of the hall roared as Ivic took his hand and pulled him into the darkness

xXx

Severus and Dracka looked around the tents that had been set up around the front of the mansion with interest. Dracka huddled down in his thick coat and moved closer to the shadows. The tents were scattered everywhere and they could see both goblins and humans moving around.

"Severus."

Severus looked up to see Bill Weasley waving at them with a brown headed woman next to him as he moved over to them. Severus took Bill's hand and the man pulled him in for a hug which surprised the Slytherin before he stepped back.

"This is my partner Elizabeth Weathermore," Bill introduced. "The goblins called us when they couldn't get into the house. We were in Romania."

"Severus Snape," Severus introduced as he took Elizabeth's hand. "And this is Rolf Dracka."

Dracka gave a nod but wouldn't move from the shadows as he huddled deeper in the thick coat.

"The vampire that is teaching Defence?" Bill asked as he looked Dracka over.

"One and the same," Dracka replied with a grin showing fangs. "Severus tells me that I missed out in teaching the Weasley twins."

Bill barked a laugh.

"They would have liked to have had a teacher that's a vampire," Bill said in amusement. "I'm sure that Blake can introduce you. Since Ry and him are silent partners in my brothers' business."

Severus groaned at the reminder and Bill gave him a wink before he looked back at the house.

"The curse breaker is having no luck getting in," Bill undated them. "She says whatever they tripped, needs to be fixed from the inside. All lines of communications have been cut and the batteries are probably dead by now anyway. We got one message from Blake after the communications were blocked he said: 'To pull back and that the house already had an owner and that the goblins couldn't claim it.' The goblins were not happy, but they are just focusing on trying to get them out now."

"They must respect Blake," Dracka muttered. "For them to worry about him more than profits."

"Yes," Bill answered and Severus felt like he was missing something. "They are here in force. I think they are thinking of putting their magic against the house at this stage."

Dracka paled at the words.

"But that could destroy the house," Dracka yelped.

Bill nodded and Severus's eyes widened.

"We've talked them out of it so far," Elizabeth said softly. "The curse breaker is still picking through the wards. This house is very, very old and the wards have stood for over a thousand years. We are not sure if they tripped an old ward or a new one at this stage."

"What was Blake doing?" Dracka asked.

"The owner of the house committed suicide two weeks ago," Bill said. "She has no living relatives with magic and one son that's a squib. The goblins wanted to claim the house and the son agreed to use his blood to give them permission to enter, which would have been standard."

"What went wrong?" Severus asked softly.

"We think there was a dark curse at play," Bill replied.

Dracka swore as he looked up at the house and Bill nodded.

"Blake and the team stepped over the wards," Bill explained. "The blood from the son allowing them to pass over. That's when we lost communication with them."

"The dark curse flared up," Dracka finished for him. "After they had stepped over the wards, trapping them?"

"Correct," Bill confirmed. "They have a chance, since Blake is with them."

Severus glared at Bill and the man stepped back.

"It's more than they would have had, if he wasn't with them." Bill said quickly.

Dracka laid a hand on Severus's shoulder and the man calmed down.

"I'll show you to a tent," Bill said softly.

xXx

Harry tightened his grip on the hand in his as darkness surrounded him. He couldn't even see Ivic beside him as he was pulled along and his feet seemed to land on something springy and he felt panic spike through him. He never liked the feeling of helplessness, as Ivic led him and all he could do was follow, as the feeling of dark magic brushed against his arms and he shivered.

He focused on the other man and kept a tight grip of the hand in his. Knowing that if he let go, that he would be lost.

xXx

Severus paced up and down the tent, feeling unease and panic coming from the link he had with Blake and the ring. Now that he was closer he could feel the connection more and the direction that Blake was in but he couldn't help him as he was held back by the wards of the house like everyone else.

"Severus," Dracka growled, his eyes flashing red. "Please sit down!"

Severus glared over at the other man and stopped pacing.

"I can't help it," Severus replied softly. "Something isn't right."

Dracka sighed and pulled himself to his feet to stand in front of the taller man and grabbed his shoulders.

"The spell in the ring?" Dracka asked.

"Yes," Severus snapped, on edge.

"Is that spell supposed to act like that?" Dracka asked with a frown.

"No," Severus said with a smirk. "It didn't when I cast it."

Dracka frown then laughed.

"Blake," Dracka stated in reply.

"Yes," Severus said with a fond smile.

"Ha!" Dracka said with a grin of his own. "He can't leave spells alone. You should see him whenever he comes to my Coven. He just has to play with the wards…every time. He will even stand out in the pouring rain while he fiddles with them."

"Yes," Severus said in agreement. "You should hear the Headmaster after Blake has decided to look at the wards of the school."

Dracka barked a laugh.

"What did he do with the spell in the ring?" Dracka asked.

"I don't know," Severus replied. "He said he picked up the connection after it was broken when Charmling stabbed him."

Severus looked away as he remembered that night and Dracka's grip on his shoulder tightened pulling his focus back.

"We'll get him out, Severus." Dracka said softly.

"I hope so," Severus replied softly. "Because starvation is not a good way to go."


	4. Chapter Twenty

Thank you for all the reviews, comments and kudos. I love hearing about what you think of the story so far and your speculations. If you get a spare minute and are loving the story, please let me know. :-)

xXx

The German and some Russian translations are by: Averagefish on FanFiction.

xXx

 

Harry stumbled and fell to his knees as they made it out of the room and Ivic held his hand tightly as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up to see they were in a large tower overlooking the grounds with only the moonlight coming through the windows to light the room.

"Is it night?" Ivic asked as he looked around and released his hand.

Harry glanced at his watch.

"No," Harry replied. "It's eleven in the morning."

Harry pulled himself to his feet and limped over to the window and looked out at the grounds. The full moon shining down, lighting up the grass and shining off the pool of water from the fountain, turning it silver.

"It's also not a full moon tonight," Harry said as he frowned.

Harry stopped at one of the windows and held out his hand and could feel the magic under his palm but it wasn't time magic he was feeling.

"It was a full moon two weeks ago," Harry said softly.

"When mother died?" Ivic asked softly as he moved closer to Harry.

"Yes," Harry replied and looked around the room.

He could see no way in and no way out of the room. There were no stairs leading up or doorways. It was just a very large circular room with panel windows going all the way around. The crackling of Harry's walkie talkie startled them them and he pulled it out with a frown.

"I thought you said the battery was dead?" Ivic asked.

"It is," Harry replied, then into the radio. "Sun."

"Ivic, my son." A female voice came across the radio and Harry shivered. He passed the device to the other man.

"Mother?" Ivic gasped, as he pressed the button on the side.

"My boy," A woman's voice purred. "My beautiful boy."

Harry felt a shiver go down his spine again as he moved away from Ivic as goose bumps came up on his arms.

"Why, mother?" Ivic gasped.

Harry moved across the room to give the man space as he felt out the magic in the tower. Feeling the darkness and yet light magic swirling around. Something bad had happened here and yet the light magic brushing against him gave him hope. He could feel no time magic so whatever had changed the time outside had nothing to do with the room they were in and more to do with the dark magic he could feel.

"Sun!" Ivic called.

Harry looked over to the man, he hadn't realised that he had moved so far away or how large the room was. Harry limped back to the man, ignoring the pain.

"Mother said that something dark attacked her and she had to jump to save herself," Ivic said softly as Harry came up to him.

Ivic held the radio out, his eyes red and Harry took the device from him. He looked down at it but the light was dead on it, there was no power in the device and he felt a chill. Just more ghosts in this cursed house.

"Do you know this room?" Harry asked looking around.

"No," Ivic replied. "It looks similar to the tower but not."

"What looks the same?"

Ivic moved over to a window and pointed.

"This window is the same," Ivic replied. "It overlooks mother's favourite part of the garden."

Harry moved over to stand next to Ivic and held his hand out towards the window palm out. He could feel the magic brush his hand and the wards under his palm. It felt like everything was tied into this one spot. This was probably the window that Ivic's mother had jumped from.

Harry and Ivic started when a growl sounded and Harry quickly summoned his silver sword as a dark beast started to appear on the other side of the room, dark mists swirling around it as it gathered a form.

"Here," Harry said and held out his sword to the other man. "Hold it back while I work on the wards."

"I don't know how to use this," Ivic snapped, as he took the sword in his hand.

"Just swing it around and try not to cut yourself or me," Harry replied and pushed the man gently forward.

Harry quickly pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and painfully crouched and ran a line over the ground in a rough half circle before them and pulled up a protection ward. It shimmered before turning silver and Harry frowned. That was not the colour that it should have turned but at least he didn't have ghost hounds snarling at him this time.

"Hopefully that will keep it back," Harry said to the frozen Ivic who stood with the silver sword in his hands nervously.

 "And if it doesn't?" Ivic asked, with wide eyes.

"Start swinging." Harry suggested, with a smile as he moved back to the window.

The creature snarled and Harry glanced over at it. Its form had started to even out around the edges and it looked vaguely human, as long as you thought outside of the box. It had a round head, two arms and two legs but that's where the similarity ended. It had glowing red eyes as it swung its head around and Harry shivered as it moved forward in jolting steps. It dropped down onto all fours, its arms as long as its legs, and its hands and feet ending in claws. It was a thing of nightmares.

It prowled forward as dark mists spun away from it. It was a dark curse given form and Harry knew that the claws would slice through human skin without a problem as it moved closer. He'd faced something similar before and was happy that he had his silver sword, well Ivic had his silver sword this time.

Harry turned back to the window and quickly opened his mind to the magic as his head pounded slightly since he hadn't centred himself but he didn't have time as the beast snarled and Ivic whimpered. He picked up the wards as quickly as he could and they burned his hands as he grabbed them harshly, the light magic bitting into his skin. He gritted his teeth and tore into the wards, they did not have time for him to pick through each one.

xXx

"Severus!"

Severus and Dracka looked up as Bill's face appeared at the flap of the tent. Severus moved quickly towards the man, leaving Dracka behind in the tent as Bill quickly weaved through the tents.

"Blake is working on the wards," Bill said quickly. "He's just tearing into them."

Severus looked over at the other man and he noticed how pale the man looked under the freckles on his face.

"Is that good?" Severus asked.

"No," Bill said. "Not good at all."

Severus paled as they came to the mansion's front gates and he could see a dark-haired woman standing alone before the gates. She was the Head curse breaker, a Russian called Galina. She normally did a lot of the warding work for Gringotts, but had been on leave so the contract had fallen to Blake. The woman looked over at them as they moved towards her.

"Are you the apprentice?" The woman asked with a thick Russian accent.

"No," Severus replied. "His partner."

"Close enough," Galina said. "He is slicing through the wards. He has skill but the magic is building. I hope he knows what he is doing."

"He knows," Bill replied, with conviction.

"Do you have a connection?" Galina asked Severus.

"To Blake?" Severus asked.

" _Da_ , yes." Galina said quickly.

"Yes," Severus confirmed and Bill sucked in a breath with wide eyes.

"You will be able to find him?" Galina asked.

"Once we are passed the wards, yes." Severus said as he stood up straighter and crossed his arms over his chest.

Bill and the woman's heads flicked back to the gates and they stared at them for a couple of minutes with matching frowns.

"What's he doing?" Bill asked softly.

"Not sure," Galina answered. "Time loop?"

Severus paled even more.

"Time magic?" Severus asked softly.

Bill glanced over at him before focusing on the gates again and Severus felt even worse. They had been so concerned with getting Blake out, that the thought that time magic could be at play terrified him. His lover had already stepped through a time rip to come here. He wouldn't think to do the same thing now, to escape the house?

xXx

Harry tied the wards he could into the house as he sliced through others as the creature roared and he shivered. He could hear the thing's claws crashing against his shield and he glanced over his shoulder, to see sparks flying. His eyes widened as the beast snarled and slammed its shoulder into his ward and he shivered as cracks started to appear.

"It's not going to hold!" Ivic squeaked.

Harry turned back to the window and grabbed the magic that had been building when he hadn't been watching and pushed it into the ground roughly. The power in the wards forcing him to his knees as he tried to tie what he could back into the wards of the house. Then he made a mistake and cursed. He jumped back and lunged at Ivic and pulled the man to the ground as his silver sword spun away from Ivic's hand and straight towards his protection ward. Harry's eyes widened as his sword hit the ward with a ringing sound as he pulled up a shield up around them.

xXx

The ground shook and Severus stumbled as Bill and Galina jumped back with wide eyes. The three looked up at the mansion but couldn't see any damage as the ground rumbled.

"He made a mistake," Galina said as she looked back at the wards.

"Blake made a mistake?" Severus said slowly.

" _Da_ ," Galina said. "He cross wrong ward. There would have been bad backlash from that."

"He's never made a mistake," Bill said softly.

"Well," Galina said softly. "He make mistake this time. He stop working on wards. They are still holding, I'll call if anything happens. After that, he probably won't be working on them for a while."

Severus and Bill shared a look before moving away from the woman.

"Blake has never made a mistake with wards, Severus." Bill said softly, looking pale.

Severus looked at the mansion and reached out to the link with Blake. He could feel the connection but nothing else.

"I better update Dracka," Severus said. "Before he burns himself…again."

xXx

Harry held the shield around them as the magic swirled and the beast roared as he covered Ivic's body with his own, hoping the magic would settle soon. He winched as the beast claws smashed into the shield, just above his head, before the light magic around them forced it back and pushed against his shield harshly and Harry had to pour more magic into it.

Then everything went silent except for the two men's panting breaths. Harry lifted his head feeling tired and hungry but he pushed that to the side as he rolled off Ivic and onto his back still within his shield.

"Is it over?" Ivic asked as he tried to look through the shield without luck.

Harry tilted his head back and with a thought the shield turned clear. The beast was gone and the room was clear of magic and Harry dropped it. He rolled until he was on his hands and knees and Ivic helped him up. Harry stumbled slightly as he got his feet under him.

"Are you okay?' Ivic asked in concern.

"Just tired," Harry replied and moved to the window.

He tried to pick up the wards again but they just slid through his fingers and he gave up and turned away. Instead he picked up the connection with Severus as he leaned his back against the wall, before sliding down to sit on the floor as Ivic watched him. He sighed in relief when he could tell the man was okay then he frowned. He was close, why was he close?

Harry rubbed his head as his headache made itself known as Ivic moved towards him and sat on the floor next to him. The two men sat shoulder to shoulder as they looked out at the bare room before them.

"What do we do now?" Ivic asked softly.

Harry looked at his watch, it was heading into Sunday afternoon. They'd run out of food early on Friday and had had the last of their water that morning.

"I need to rest," Harry said. "Then I'll try the wards again. I don’t think that creature will be back for a while. It's probably full."

"Full?" Ivic asked.

"It eats magic," Harry said as he laid his head back against the wall. "It would have taken it's fill from my mistake. Wake me if it comes back."

xXx

Harry started when Ivic grabbed his shoulder and his eyes fell on a small patch of dark mist rolling along the floor and he frowned. He glanced at his watch to see that it was one in the morning.

"What is that?" Ivic asked.

"Dark magic," Harry replied and pulled himself to his feet stiffly.

He limped across the room and knelt down and touched the dark mists. It swirled over his fingertips, slightly cold to the touch and he grabbed a hold of it. It brushed against his hand and arm and he grinned tiredly.

"Sun!"

Harry threw up a shield just as a dark blade crashed down towards him and he rolled to the side as he summoned his silver sword. He stumbled slightly as he got his feet under him as Ivic backed away. Harry faced the creature and brought his silver sword up in front of him warily.

The magic had changed the beast from before into something more human shaped as it held a dark sword out in front of it with burning red eyes. Harry circled it slightly and it watched him as he kept most of his weight on his left leg. The creature swung the sword and Harry brought up his blade against it, then yelped and dropped to the ground hard, as the creature's dark sword just parted around his silver sword and kept going. The damn thing was learning.

Harry gasped as the breath was knocked out his lungs and he rolled out of the way of the blade as his silver sword clattered across the floor. He jumped to his feet and summoned a light blade instead, made completely from light magic. Harry hated using light or dark magic for blades, it always drained his magic so much quicker. The creature paused at the use of light magic before stalking forward. Harry swung the blade towards the beast and it brought its dark blade to bare and the two swords rang out with a sharp crack.

Harry stumbled back and flicked the sword the other way and smashed his sword into the thing's side. The impact travelled along his blade and Harry gritted his teeth as the beast howled and lashed out. Harry brought a light shield up and the thing's claws skittered across the shield with a squeal. Harry smashed the shield into the beast's head as he swung his sword around and connected with the creature's side again and it fell back. It may have a human shape and sword but it did not have the skills of a swordsman.

Harry could tell it was starting to lose its form as he pushed forward. Using his sword and shield to drive it back towards the edge of the tower. He skipped back a step as the creature swung its blade and winched as he came down hard on his right leg as he pushed forward again. The beast snarled as Harry's sword crashed into its side and it darted to the side quickly with a deep growl.

Harry grinned and lunged with his shield out and pushed the beast back…and through the window behind it.

It screamed as it tumbled back and over the windowsill and Harry's eyes widened.

"Get down!" Harry yelled as he hit the floor.

Harry quickly brought up a shield over Ivic before pulling one up in front of him as the magic built then spun out around the tower before igniting around them in flames of dark and light.

xXx

Severus and Dracka jolted awake as the ground rumbled and they could feel magic flaring out around them. They were running before they realised they were moving and Severus was glad for the fact that they had worn their clothes to bed that night. The camp was alive with people and goblins as Severus and Dracka pushed forward towards the gates, where Galina and Bill waited for them.

"Wards are down!" Bill yelled when they got closer. "It's a mess."

Severus looked up at the mansion and could see nothing different except for the open front gate.

Galina nodded at Severus and the others as she moved forward carefully.

"Stay behind the main team," Bill ordered as a couple of other people moved forward with Galina at the front. "You need to guild us to Blake."

Severus nodded as they moved forward, with Dracka's eyes shining red in the night. Severus kept in step with the vampire as they moved. The team smashed through the front door and into the entrance hall.

"Two down!"

Severus, Dracka and Bill moved forward to see two bodies sprawled out on the marble tiles. They had been ripped apart and Severus swallowed back the bile at the back of his throat at the sight.

"Which way, Severus?" Bill asked softly.

"Up the stairs," Severus replied and they moved passed the bodies, there was nothing they could do for them.

They moved further into the house and could see the damage that something very large had made and his eyes widened at the sight. Dracka suddenly sneezed next to him, startling the team.

"Sorry, dark magic," Dracka replied. "It has settled."

" _Da_ ," Galina replied. "And light."

"Blake?" Severus hissed.

"No," Dracka replied.

They moved down the hallway until Severus frowned and stopped. Bill called out to the team and they moved back towards them. Dracka had his nose in the air and was sniffing.

"That way," Dracka and Severus said at the same time.

The two men glared at each other as they pointed to the left-hand hallway. Bill snorted and they turned on him.

"That way," Bill said to the team and they moved forward until they reached a staircase and they moved up to the third floor.

Two move bodies greeted them and Severus shivered. They didn't have a mark on them but the medic confirmed them as dead.

"Killing curse?" Severus asked softly.

" _Niet_ ," Galina replied. "Ghosts."

Severus shivered.

"Russian ghosts," One of the Russian men said softly. "More beast, they feed on magic."

Severus and Dracka paused outside a door, before pointing at it and moving back. The team moved forward and smashed through the locked door. They walked out into a large dance hall and looked around. This house was huge as they walked into the hall and spread out.

"Another one," A woman on the team called. "Alive."

Severus rushed over but it wasn't Blake as the medic moved forward and looked the woman over. He pulled out a walkie talkie and spoke quickly in Russian and a medic team appeared and stretchered the woman out. Severus moved back out into the hall with Dracka by his side and paused at a door tucked behind a curtain.

"That way," Severus said softly.

Galina and her team moved forward and opened the door, a narrow staircase was on the other side and they would have to move up in pairs. Galina nodded and two of her team moved forward and up the stairs.

"Clear. Medic."

Galina and the rest of her team moved forward with Dracka, Severus and Bill bringing up the rear of the group. Dracka snarled and surged forward when they got to the top of the stairs to see a blonde-haired man crouched over Blake.

" _Niet, niet!"_ The man yelped as Dracka surged forward. "He fine!"

Dracka paused as the man held his hands up and away from Blake and Severus moved forward quickly, his heart in his throat, as he fell to his knees next to Blake. His lover was on his side and slightly curled up with his arms outstretched. Severus placed his fingers on his throat and he could feel a pulse and he sighed.

"Who are you?" Dracka demanded, his eyes red.

"Ivic Smirnov," The man said. "This is my house."

Severus shivered as the magic settled around them and Blake jolted under his hand slightly.

"Blake?"

Blake groaned and rolled onto his back and peered up at Severus and frowned.

"Severus," Blake said softly, then grinned. "How was your weekend?"

Dracka snorted as Blake looked up at them and Severus wasn't sure if he should kiss the man or strangle him.

He didn't get a chance to do either as the medic rushed forward and ran his wand over Blake and Ivic. The blonde picked up Blake's silver sword and held it out hilt first to Dracka and the vampire used a cloth from his pocket to grab the hilt and he held it by his side. Severus grabbed Blake's hand and the man looked up at him looking tired.

"Give me a hand up?" Blake asked.

" _Niet_ ," The medic replied. " _Ostavaysya tam_."

" _Niet,"_ Blake snapped and Ivic grinned.

" _On v poryadke_ ," Ivic said softly. "He is fine, let him up."

The medic nodded sharply and moved off as Severus and Dracka got under Blake and got him to his feet. Severus frowned when the man took his weight off his right leg.

"We'll check the rest of the house," Galina announced and they moved out of the room.

Ivic stayed with them as they moved to the stairs and Blake groaned as he looked down at them. Severus smirked and took his weight as Dracka slipped out from under his left side. Blake was sweating and swearing under his breath by the time they made it out of the house and Severus was concerned that he wouldn't put any weight on his right leg.

"Ivic!"

Severus looked up as a heavily pregnant woman with straight black hair yelled out and Blake tensed beside him. Ivic ran forward and embraced the woman and Severus looked down at Blake, the man was pale and his eyes were wide as they looked at the woman.

"What is it?" Severus whispered as Dracka moved in front of them with Blake's silver sword.

" _Prizraki_ ," Blake whispered.

"English, Blake." Severus said in amusement.

Blake grinned up at him and went to step forward on his right leg then hissed as his leg gave out under him. Severus grunted as he took the man's full weight.

"Sorry," Blake breathed.

"All good," Severus said with a smirk.

Blake smiled up at him but Severus saw his eyes stray over to the couple again as a small child squealed from the arms of another woman that looked like she might be the other woman's sister. Blake's eyes clouded over with pain as he looked at the child and Severus frowned at him.

"We should get you to the tent," Dracka said softly from beside them.

" _Da_ ," Blake said softly, as he watched the family. " _Da_."

Severus sighed and helped Blake to the tent, as soon as he helped the man to the camp bed, he was out and Severus ran a hand over his head fondly. Dracka collapsed on the other bed and placed the silver sword on the ground beside him. Severus looked down at the man before curling up along his back on the small bed and ignoring Dracka's leer and was soon out as well.

xXx

"Mr Sun?"

Harry turned and limped slowly towards Ivic with the help of a cane they had found somewhere. The blonde-haired man had an arm around his wife.

"Ivic," Harry said with a soft smile. "You know you can call me, Blake."

" _Da_ ," Ivic said with a smile. "My wife Katelin."

Harry kissed the woman's fingers with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Harry said softly.

"Thank you for saving my husband," Katelin said with a strong English accent. "You are English?"

"I am now," Harry replied with a grin.

Ivic laughed and placed a hand on Katelin's stomach.

"We wish to call our child after you, if it is a son." Ivic said softly with a thick Russian accent.

Harry's eyes widened in shock as Severus moved towards them.

"My son's name was Nikolai," Harry said softly. "I would be honoured if you would consider that name?"

" _Da_ ," Ivic said quickly. "You saved my life and I have family home. All because of you."

"Thank your mother," Harry said softly. "Even with that dark curse, she thought of you."

" _Da_ ," Ivic said softly. " _Prizraki_."

" _Da_ ," Harry said in agreement.

Severus moved up to his shoulder and Ivic nodded at them before turning away as he hugged his wife close.

"What does that word mean?" Severus whispered.

" _Prizraki_?" Harry said softly and Severus nodded. "It means ghosts."

Severus shivered at the words and grabbed Harry's hand.

"Let's go home," Harry said softly then looked over at the tent and Dracka in the shadows. "Well, after the sun goes down."

"We could leave him here," Severus muttered in his ear and Harry snorted in amusement while Dracka glared at them.

"But then one of us would have to teach Defence," Harry said blandly.

They could both hear Dracka's growl from where they stood and they smirked over at the vampire as the sunlight warmed their skin.

xXx

Dracka watched in amusement as Severus moved around the Great Hall handing out pieces of paper from Blake. The man had cancelled any classes he would have had this week and even Dracka was concerned. Severus paused behind Potter before hissing something in his ear and the boy looked up at him with wide eyes before bolting for the doors and Dracka frowned as his demon took notice.

Suddenly a large man appeared in the doorway and Potter yelped and tried to pull to a stop but the big man just grabbed the boy by the arm. Dracka jumped to his feet and he even saw Albus pull his wand from its holster.

"You set me up!" Potter yelled at Severus.

The large man's laughter had Dracka calming but he could still see Albus holding his wand. Severus smirked as he moved towards the two as Ry glared at him.

"And why would you think that, Mr Potter?" Severus purred.

"You knew he was coming!" Ry spat then yelped as the large man shook him.

"Manners, little Potter." The man rumbled.

"Sorry, Albert." Ry replied and the man released him.

Ry stumbled a step as he was released and Dracka made his way towards them. Albert looked up at the vampire in interest as he drew closer.

"Albert Greenburg," Severus said softly. "This is Rolf Dracka, he is teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year."

"Ha!" Albert laughed. "A vampire teaching Defence. Very funny."

Dracka pulled back and took a sniff of the man then grinned and held his hand out. The large man took his hand in his large one and gave it a shake. The man was even bigger close up as he looked down at Dracka with a grin. He could have rivalled Hagrid in size alone but there was a kindness around the man that seemed to soften his bulk as he looked around the hall in interest.

"Albert is here to see Blake," Severus explained.

"I'll just be-" Ry tried to say but Severus clamped a hand down onto the boy's shoulder.

"Finish giving these out for your father," Severus cut in and handed Ry the pieces of paper in his hand. "The name, year and house of the student is on the front, if you don't know them, give them to the student's Head of House."

Ry pouted but took the papers and Severus released him.

"I feel like a pin ball," Ry muttered as he walked off and Albert grinned after him.

"Severus?" Albus asked softly as he moved towards the group.

"Albert this is Headmaster Albus Dumbledore," Severus introduced. "Albus this is Doctor Albert Greenburg."

Albus smiled and held his hand out to the man.

"Oh, yes." Albus replied. "Blake has spoken of you before."

"What has that _Dummkopf_ gotten into now?" Albert cried as the hall watched them in interest and Severus grimaced.

"Follow me, Albert." Severus said softly as he glared at the students close by before leading the large man out of the hall.

"You look unwell, Severus." Albert said loudly, as they moved out of the room. "You need to eat more! You are too skinny!"

Dracka barked a laugh as a few students giggled.

"No, excuse!" Albert's voice floated back to them and Dracka sniggered. "You run faster with good food."

Potter sniggered from beside them and Dracka and Albus turned to the boy.

"He's found a new target," Ry said with a grin. "Serves him right for setting me up."

"Now, Mr Potter." Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm sure Professor Snape did no such thing."

"No," Dracka disagreed, with a smirk. "Sounds just like him."

"Or Dad," Ry said with a grin. "Sounds just like Dad. I bet he put Snape up to it."

Dracka barked a laugh as he clapped a hand to Ry's shoulder and the boy grinned.

xXx

Harry could hear Albert coming well before the man opened his door.

"You don't look well," Albert said loudly as he came into the room.

Harry looked up at the large man in the doorway with Severus behind him. Harry was sprawled out on his stomach on the bed and he could see the concern in Severus's eyes as he looked down at him.

"Don't feel that great either," Harry replied.

Albert pulled his wand as he moved closer and Severus shut the door behind them before moving to the chair in the room. Albert moved the covers to uncover him as he looked him over. He was only wearing underwear as he lay there.

"What did you do?" Albert asked, keeping their conversation in English for Severus's sake.

"Dark curse locked down a house," Harry said softly. "Ghost hounds and the manifestation of the dark curse."

"Ah yes," Albert said as he muttered a few healing charms under his breath and Harry shivered as the magic worked into his system. "Roll onto your left side."

Harry did as he was ordered and winched as the pain flared in his hip and leg. He relaxed quickly under Albert's spells and was starting to drift off to sleep.

"No sleep, Blake." Albert rumbled.

"No sleep," Harry repeated and the man laid a large hand on his hip.

"Severus come here," Albert ordered. "Do you have muscle balm for him?"

Harry didn't take offence at being talked about like he wasn't there, he was used to it.

"Blake, pants off." Albert said softly and gave him a hand to get his pants off.

Albert moved him back to his left side where the damage from the snake bite was on show. Harry shivered when the man placed the balm on the damaged area and up to his hip and further down his leg.

"Work the balm in like this," Albert said, showing Severus how to work it in while Harry gritted his teeth against the pain as he hugged the pillow tight to his stomach. "Right, Blake?"

Harry could only nod his head.

"Relax," Albert snapped and eased off on digging his fingers into his hip and Harry gasped.

"Easy for you to say," Harry panted.

"Don't be baby," Albert snapped but his hands were gentle as they worked the balm into his leg and hip.

By the time Albert was done Harry was a mess of pain and Albert patted his hip as he just gasped.

"You'll be fine," Albert said softly. "Give it a couple of days."

Harry nodded as he held the pillow and tried not to move.

"You over did it, Blake." Albert said. "You forget old man."

"Never forget," Harry gasped and winched as a twinge went up his leg and hip.

Albert barked a laugh and laid his hand on his side, he pulled out a pill bottle and placed it on his bedside table.

" _Auf Wiedersehen_ , Blake." Albert said with a chuckle.

Harry just waved his hand and tried to relax as the door opened and closed. Severus pulled the blanket up and over him.

"Need anything?" Severus asked softly.

"Pain potion…and sleeping potion." Harry gasped.

Severus's hand stilled on him and Harry slitted his eyes open to look up at him. Severus must have seen something in his eyes for he quickly left the room as Harry tried to get comfortable under the covers. Severus returned quickly and Harry struggled up enough to take them with the other man's help. The potions took effect quickly as Harry sprawled out on his stomach and was out quickly.

xXx

Severus looked down at Blake as he held the two empty potion vials, Blake had never asked for a sleeping potion before and he couldn't recall the man ever taking one and it concerned him. Whatever had happened in that house it had pushed him too far. A soft knock at the door had him looking up with a frown.

"Come in," Severus called and Ry poked his head around the door.

"Is he gone?" Potter asked softly.

Severus smirked at the boy and Ry grinned and slipped into the room, then frowned at his father.

"Is he sleeping?" Ry asked. "It's eight in the morning."

"He asked for a sleeping potion," Severus replied as he moved to the chair in the room and conjured another one for Ry.

"That's unlike him," Potter commented quietly.

"His leg," Severus whispered, as he leaned his elbows on his knees.

"Oh," Ry said, as he looked at his father. "It used to be worse."

Severus looked over at the boy sharply.

"When I was younger," Ry said quietly. "He used to hire someone to look after me sometimes when it was really bad. Albert would stay with us as well for weeks at a time. The last few years have been a lot better, I think his potions are getting better. He even started to work with his sword again just before I started school here."

 Ry looked up and locked eyes with Severus and he understood why the potions were improving and Potter gave him a small smile.

"How long has he known Albert?" Severus asked.

"As long as I can remember," Potter said. "He used to live in Germany, but moved his practise here a while ago, probably when I started at Hogwarts. I think Dad helped set him up here."

Severus filed the information away, under the label Blake Sun.

"You can't know everything about him, Snape." Ry said softly.

"Albert?"

"No, Dad." Ry said with a grin. "Man of mystery, is what he is. There is always something else that you didn't know about him or something he would say and he would get this look and remember that he hadn't told you something. When I started here I thought everyone worked magic the way Dad does, then I was surprised when it was completely different."

They fell into silence before Potter suddenly chuckled.

"Yes?" Severus drawled.

"The Department of Mysteries, they didn't see him coming." Ry quipped in amusement. "You should see his office."

"He has an office?" Severus asked, again reminded of how little he knew about his lover.

"Do not ask him to see it," Ry replied with a shiver. "That's if you can get through the door."

Severus glared down his nose at the child but Potter just gave him a grin.

"Let's just say," Ry said lightly. "If they don't know what to do with it, they give it a label that says Blake Sun and they shove it into his office. Then they hope that he can work it out or contain the explosion."

 Severus snorted and they both looked down at the man in the bed fondly as he slept.

xXx

Harry sighed as he lowered himself into the warm water of the large tub, ignoring the giggling from the girl ghost near the taps.

"Didn't you get enough of the show from Mr Daniels and his partner?" Harry asked the girl as he sunk up to his neck in the water.

"No," Moaning Myrtle complained. "You scared them off too early."

Harry looked over at the ghost as she peered over the lip of the tub at him.

"You know," Harry said softly. "It's a bit creepy with you watching students in a bathroom. Maybe I should put up a ward in here."

The girl pouted at him and Harry gave her a grin.

"It gets so lonely," The girl moaned.

"Ha!" Harry barked a laugh. "You are surrounded by horny students. How is that lonely?"

Harry moved back to the side of the tub and sat on the shelf as he rested his head back on the edge of the tub. He closed his eyes and listened to the slow dripping of the water.

"Not when you scare them off," Myrtle snapped.

"I'm sure Mr Daniels will be back and maybe even with the same partner," Harry replied with a smirk. "I think he likes to give you a show."

Myrtle gave a giggle and Harry looked over at the ghost in amusement.

"He needs the practise," Myrtle said with a smirk.

"Ha!" Harry laughed. "Girl or boy?"

Myrtle giggled and gave Harry a wink.

"Keeping his options open?" Harry asked with a smirk. "Or hasn't settled yet?"

Harry tilted his head back when Severus opened the door behind him and Myrtle yelped softly and disappeared.

"Are you talking to someone?" Severus asked as he moved into the room and shut the door.

"Just talking out loud really," Harry replied and could hear a slight snicker. "Had to chase Mr Daniels and his latest partner out of here first."

"Again?" Severus sighed, as he shrugged out of robes and shirt as Harry watched him upside down. "Who was it this time?"

"I'll have to talk to Minerva," Harry said with a wink and splashed water towards where Myrtle had disappeared to as Severus finished undressing and slipped into the water.

"No taste," Severus muttered.

"Oi!" Harry yelped as Severus smirked over at him.

"What are you doing in here anyway?" Severus asked. "The teachers have their own on the fourth floor."

"What?" Harry said with a smirk. "And walk up all those stairs when there is one on the first floor?"

Harry heard Myrtle snigger quietly and knew the girl had found that bathroom as well.

"I hope you aren't watching teachers, Ms Warren?" Harry called over to the ghost and Severus flicked his head around with wide eyes.

"No," Myrtle whispered as she peered over at them and Severus squeaked.

Harry looked over at him in amusement.

"Bastard," Severus cursed and Harry just grinned.

Harry swum over to Myrtle and the girl looked at him in interest.

"Severus gets embarrassed," Harry said quietly to the ghost and her eyes flicked over to the man and she giggled. "I'm guessing that Mr Daniels probably moved his antics to the classroom on the third floor."

"Oh," Myrtle exclaimed and her eyes lit up.

"Now," Harry said, with a smirk. "I don't want to see you for at least two hours or next time you try to get in here, there will be a ward stopping you. Understand?"

The girl smirked and gave him a wink before disappearing with a squeal. Harry pushed back from the edge and floated on his back as he glanced over at the Slytherin.

"What did you tell her?" Severus asked as he watched him.

"That I'll ward this room against her if she doesn't give us two hours." Harry replied as he moved closer to Severus.

"Ha!" Severus barked with a smirk. "Did you lock the door?"

"Yes," Harry said, as he floated.

Suddenly a bang sounded from the door and Harry righted himself in the water as both men looked over.

"Out of order!" Harry yelled.

"Sun!" Dracka yelled back.

"No vampires allowed!" Harry called back as he moved over to Severus.

Severus grabbed him and pulled him close for a kiss as Harry settled on his lap. Severus's hands curled around his ass as they kissed and Harry tangled his hands in his hair. He tensed when Severus's fingers dipped lower and one moved further.

"No," Harry whispered in the man's ear before kissing his neck and Severus's hands moved back to his bum.

Harry pulled back and looked down at Severus but the man just gave him a smile before pulling him forward and twisting around so that Harry sat on the shelf and he stood between his legs. Harry looked up at the man in amusement.

"Yes?" Harry drawled and was pleased to see a shiver run down Severus's back. "Good to know Daniels won't be the only one seeing action tonight."

Severus huffed a laugh as he pushed Harry's legs further apart as he took him in a deep kiss as he cupped his balls and rolled them in his hand.

"Did Albus give you the no more sex in the classroom talk?" Severus purred in his ear before taking the lobe into his mouth and sucking on it slightly.

"Yeah," Harry gasped. "And it came with the no dark magic on school grounds speech."

Severus chuckled as he pulled back and looked down at Harry as he ran his hand up his cock and Harry let his head fall back on the edge of the tub as he slid forward on the bench slightly.

"He smirked the whole time and his blue eyes wouldn't stop twinkling," Harry said softly. "He only says it cos he has to by law. Oh god."

Severus smirked and bit down on the man's neck again as his cock hardened. Harry growled and grabbed Severus around the neck and flipped their positions. Severus looked up at him in amusement until Harry's fingers nails ran down his sides and he gasped. Harry pulled the man's hips forward and palmed his cock in one hand and his bum in the other.

Harry curled his hand around his shaft and gave a slight tug from base to tip as Severus wrapped his legs slightly around him.

"Okay?" Severus whispered in his ear.

"At the moment," Harry relied as he stepped forward slightly.

Harry's fingers moved slightly forward as he worked on Severus and the man gasped as he breached him with one finger and wide black eyes darted up to him.

"No more than that," Harry said softly.

Severus nodded sharply as Harry tightened his grip on his cock and Severus rocked his hips into him as Harry wiggled a second finger. He pulled back as he wrapped his hands around the man's hip.

"Back on the edge," Harry said, with a grimace as his leg twitched.

Severus twisted them around and pushed Harry back onto the shelf gently and Severus ran a hand down his hip before finding his cock and wrapping his hand around it and Harry's head fell back on the edge as he panted. He looked at Severus through slitted eyes and gave the man a grin.

"You're beautiful," Harry whispered and the man paused and Harry frowned.

He sat up on the edge of the shelf and pulled the man closer until Severus was saddling his lap and cupped his face.

"You are," Harry said softly. "Love the feeling of your skin under my hands."

Severus stilled on his lap as he looked at him then gave him a smirk.

"Didn't realise this was going to get sappy," Severus purred, with a glint in his dark eyes.

Harry barked a laugh before reaching between them and grabbing his cock and giving it a soft tug and Severus's eyes darkened. Harry kissed his neck as he moved his hand to his shoulder and tightened his grip until Severus was panting in his ear and he quickened the pace making the man swear and buck his hips until he tensed and came with a soft groan.

Harry held him as he ran his hands down his soft skin and pulled him forward until there was no space between them as Severus came down from his high. Severus's hands tightened around his hips and Harry winched slightly at the pain.

"Not so hard," Harry whispered and the hands relaxed.

Severus's hands found his balls and shaft and Harry's head fell back onto the tub as he relaxed under the other man as he rocked his hips slightly, ignoring the slight pain. Severus kissed his neck and Harry tilted his head to the side as he worked down the side of his neck then bit down slightly on the junction of his neck and shoulder and Harry came with a curse making Severus huff a laugh.

Harry winched again as it pulled at his hip, he looked up to see Severus watching him carefully.

"Okay?" Severus purred.

"Yeah," Harry replied and Severus moved to his side as he pulled his leg up slightly. "Couple more days and should be back to normal again. It's a pain in the ass until then."

Harry moved off the shelf and went for a lap around the huge tub.

"Why is this thing so large?" Harry called back to Severus.

"Roman times?" Severus replied. "How the hell should I know?"

Harry chuckled as he made his way back to Severus while the other man watched him. Harry tapped into his wizard magic and tapped the surface of the water and a rainbow of colours spread out from him and across the water like oil. Severus started at the use of magic and Harry grinned at him as he added a few bright blue fishes that would dart around and jump out of the water every now and again.

"You just can't leave it alone," Severus drawled and Harry smirked.

"Got to clean the water somehow," Harry replied as he splashed some water in Severus's direction. "There was no way I was getting in here after Mr Daniels had been in here without cleaning the water first."

Severus barked a laugh as Harry floated on his back as he moved back towards the other man. Severus's dark eyes watching him the whole time.

xXx

Harry looked up from his breakfast when Albus placed a file box in front of him a few weeks later. He paused with his fork raised halfway to his mouth as he looked at the Department of Mysteries tape around it as well and the 'Danger: Do not open' tape across the top of it and his name written in large letters.

"This arrived just before," Albus said with a stern look.

"Right," Harry said, drawing the word out. "I didn't request it."

Albus tapped the name on the box with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Your name on this box would suggest otherwise, Mr Sun." Albus replied with a smile.

"It would, wouldn't it." Harry muttered as he pulled out his phone. "You are game to touch that, Headmaster."

Albus snatched his hand back while Dracka snorted. Minerva looked over in interest as Harry pulled up a number in his phone and pressed it. He placed the phone on the table on speaker.

"Dogwood," A gruff voice answered.

"Hey boss," Harry said, with a smirk in Albus's direction. "What-"

"What the fuck do you want Sun!" The man cut across him and Minerva's lips tightened.

"You are on speaker phone, Dylan." Harry said quickly. "In the Great Hall at Hogwarts, I seem to have a box sitting on the table in front of me from the Department."

"Why am I on speaker phone?" Dylan asked.

"So, I have witnesses to your verbal abuse," Harry replied calmly. "Or to improve your language, pick one."

Harry could hear the man cover the phone and faint words before he spoke back into the phone again.

"If you would do your job, instead of playing Professor, Sun!" The man barked. "You wouldn’t have that damn box."

"What is my job again, Dylan?" Harry asked in amusement.

"You know damn well!"

"So, this box?" Harry asked as he moved it closer to him and looked over the runes on the sides of it. "Why have you sent it here?"

"Wouldn't fit in your f-damn office," Dylan amended. "If you don't sort your office out I'm just going to start sending the boxes to Hogwarts-no, better yet, your house in London."

Harry groaned, "I'm still paying off that bill to the body corporate from the last time, Dylan."

"Not my problem," Dylan snapped.

"It is, if I send the bill to the Minister," Harry replied and pressed the speaker button as Dylan exploded and Harry winked at Severus as the man smirked at him.

"Sun!" Came through the phone faintly and Harry pressed the speaker button again.

"It's only near the start of the school year," Harry said mildly. "And Professor McGonagall is already looking like she's going to take points."

"You are not a student, Sun!" Dylan snapped. "You are barely a teacher!"

Dracka barked a laugh as a few students close by giggled.

"From his pay cheque, Mr Dogwood." Albus said with a smile. "I would have to agree with you."

Dylan barked a laugh.

"The minster was sniffing around down here the other day," Dylan said. "He was eyeing off your office. I'm thinking he wants to just seal it up and be done with it."

"Fine," Harry snapped. "I'll drop around next weekend and see what I can do."

"I'm not paying you penalty rates," Dylan snapped.

"On the house then," Harry replied as he pulled his dark wand and the teachers shifted nervously and Harry looked over at them with a frown. "But if you tell the Minister I'm there…"

"Deal," Dylan agreed quickly. "But you know he's a crafty old lion."

"Whoever did these runes, needs lessons." Harry replied, as he ran his wand over the box.

"I'll get them to contact you," Dylan growled. "I want you to get down here and do some fu-bloody work."

"Right," Harry replied, distractingly. "I'll look into that."

"Sun!" Dylan barked.

"Bye boss," Harry said sweetly.

"Sun-"

Harry pressed the button on the phone as the other's looked at him in amusement.

"Glad to see you treat all your bosses the same," Albus muttered with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Only the ones I like," Harry muttered, as he looked the box over.

"So," Dracka said as he leaned over and took a sniff of the box and Harry pointed his wand at the vampire casually. "What's in the box?"

"If you get any closer, Dracka." Harry warned, and the vampire flashed his fangs at him.

Harry pulled out a silver knife and Dracka reeled back with a hiss as Harry smirked at him. He placed the knife on the tape.

"Ah, Blake." Albus said, unsure. "Shouldn't you open that in your classroom? Or better yet outside the school wards?"

"Oops," Harry smirked as he cut through the tape. "Too late."

Harry flicked the lid off the box and peered inside with a grin.

"Hello you," Harry cooed and Severus sighed.

"Not a snake then," Severus muttered.

Harry glanced over at Severus with a grin before reaching in and pulling out a ball of fur. The thing was as big as his palm and seemed to have no legs, arms or head. Much like a pom-pom but with mass at the middle of it in a dark brown colour.

"Hey, Hagrid." Harry called down the table to the half giant. "These are right up your alley."

"Wha' do you have 'ere?" Hagrid asked as he got to his feet.

"Small little fur ball," Harry replied as he patted the dark brown fur of the little creature and looked back into the box. "And friends."

Dracka reached in and pulled out a brown fur ball and looked at it in interest. He tilted it a few different ways but it just sat there, or he assumed it was sitting there since he had no idea what way up it was supposed to be.

"Why would the Department send you these?" Dracka asked. "They look cute enough."

"Until they grow up," Harry said in amusement. "I'm sure they will feel at home in the Forbidden Forest, Albus?"

Hagrid had wandered down and reached a hand in and pulled out another black fur ball and was looking at it with a frown. The fur ball looked very small in his large hand. 

Suddenly ten balls of fur flew out of the box and rolled along the table and onto the floor as the students started to take notice and the noise dimmed. They were brown, black or white or mixes of those three colours as more fur balls rolled from the box and the children laughed and picked the creatures up as the teachers looked at them nervously.

"Blake?" Albus asked as he moved towards him and looked into the box as more fur balls rolled out. "How many are there in there?"

"Ah," Harry replied and peered into the box. "I'm sure that every student should be able to have one."

Albus paled under his beard as he looked out, as the students started to pick up the fur balls and giggling started up around the hall. The fur balls suddenly stilled and Harry looked up in amusement as they all started to tumble towards the doors of the hall. Harry kept a hold of the one in his hands and it squeaked at him.

"No, stay here." Harry ordered and the animal quieted down as the others rolled out.

"That is creepy," Dracka muttered.

The animal in Harry's hand squeaked again and Harry stroked its back, well a part of it anyway.

"Is that all of them?" Harry asked the fur ball, as he held the last one. "No."

Harry peered into the box and let the one in his hand go as he reached into the box with two hands and pulled a small beast out. The thing squeaked at him and Dracka and Severus pushed their seats back quickly, the chair scraping across the stones. The beast could have been called a cat, if cats had floppy ears and very large claws and teeth. The cat had bright blue eyes as it blinked them open and yawned as Harry gently placed it on the table and it stretched his back.

The animal had a long coat of brown and white and two tails as it flicked its ears and sat looking at Harry. The wizard held out a hand and a ball of light magic pooled in his hand and the beast tilted its head transfixed.

"They grow into that?" Severus asked and he moved further away.

Harry snorted as the beast lunged for the ball of light magic and Harry snatched his hand back before the thing could take his fingers, leaving the ball behind as the beast grabbed it in its paws. Hagrid looked down at it with bright eyes, Harry was sure that it was love at first sight.

"This one's just a baby," Harry replied. "This is a Squirt."

The beast went to jump off the table and Harry quickly grabbed it by the scuff of the neck and it let out a loud yowl.

"Oh, shush." Harry snapped at it.

The beast swung its claws around as Harry held it tightly and the hall had gone silent. Harry gave it a shake and it settled down and glared at him with bright blue eyes.

"You will be allowed to live in the Forbidden Forrest," Harry said sternly. "You will be fair game for anything in there and anything except wizards, witches and members of this school will be off limits. Understand?"

The beast glared at him as it swung from his hand before looking away as more of the fur balls rolled back into the hall and the teachers eyed them off warily.

"Vampires are fair game," Harry said softly.

"Hey!" Dracka yelped.

Harry glanced over at the vampire and smirked.

"Agreed?" Harry asked the creature and held his other hand out towards it.

The beast swung a clawed paw out and it connected with Harry's hand as he wrapped his hand around the furred limb before releasing the creature. The thing landed on four feet and hissed at him before jumping from the table and onto the ground. It shook its coat out and letting the hair settle before glancing over at Harry before strutting between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table towards the front doors with its tails up in the air.

"Oi!" Harry yelled after the creature and it turned. "Any trouble and we'll be having words."

The beast snarled at him showing fangs before bounding from the room as the fur balls rolled after it.

"Well there you go Dracka, enjoy." Harry announced, turning to the vampire.

Dracka eyed him off, then the way the creatures had gone, then Harry again before his lips curled up in a smirk, showing off his fangs. Severus frowned as he looked at Harry.

"Blake?" Albus asked, looking at the man unsure.

"They will keep to the forest Headmaster," Harry replied. "Call it another layer of protection."

Dracka barked a laugh and leaned in close to Harry.

"Cunning bastard," Dracka whispered in his ear.

Harry barked a laugh as he looked over at the vampire.

"Knew there had to be a reason that Dogwood sent that box here," Harry said with a smirk. "Food chain and all of that. Severus, feel like a field trip to the Department?"

Severus glared over at him.

"No?" Harry asked in amusement.

"No," Severus repeated, as he retook his seat.

Harry grabbed up his coffee and looked around the hall and the teachers, everything silent, as they looked at him.

"What?" Harry asked mildly, as he took a sip of coffee.


	5. Chapter Twenty One

Harry waited as the last student made their way towards him.  He was leaning on a boulder, down near the shore of the Great Lake, as the sun set casting shadows over the group. His class was a mix of fifth through to seventh year students of all houses. Ry and Granger were the last to dash down towards him.

“Nice of you to join us, Mr Potter and Ms Granger.” Harry drawled, then realised how much he sounded like Severus.

“Sorry, sir.” Hermione said in a rush. “One of the staircases decided to move on us.”

Harry smirked as a couple of students giggled.

“Okay everyone,” Harry said to the twenty-three students around him.

He noticed that a couple of other students, not in his class, making their way over once they realised he was holding a class. He didn’t say anything about it, he didn't mind if others watched.

“Today we will be working on true light and dark magic…yes Ms Granger?” Harry asked as the girl’s hand shot up.

“Isn’t dark magic illegal?” The girl said looking pale.

“No,” Harry answered simply. “Yes, Ms Granger?”

“But the killing curse?”

“Is illegal,” Harry answered. “Yes, Ms Granger?”

“Isn't that dark magic?”

“Now that is an interesting question,” Harry smiled. “Okay everyone. Put your hand up if you think the killing curse is a dark spell?”

Every hand went up.

“Anyone think it’s a light spell?” Harry asked.

Every hand stayed down.

“Magic in general is neutral,” Harry said calmly. “We each have a core of magic in us some are more towards ‘dark’ magic while other are towards ‘light’. Mr Malfoy please step forward.”

Draco stepped forward and Harry faced him pulling his cherry wand making the boy’s hand twitch towards his own wand.

“If I cast the killing curse right now at Mr Malfoy,” Harry said calmly. “With the intent to kill him is that a dark spell? Ms Granger?”

“Yes, sir.” The girl said.

“Okay and if Mr Malfoy was lying in a hospital bed in unbearable pain with no outlook of that improving and I was a mediwizard with permission from Mr Malfoy and his Doctors to cast the killing curse to end his suffering.  Would that be a dark spell? Anyone?”

No one moved as other students floated over. Ms Granger’s hand slowly went up in the air and Harry nodded at the girl.

“So, it depends on intent?” The girl said.

“Now, that is the question,” Harry said and waved Malfoy back. “Dark objects are a different story; those things will leak into your core and taint it. But spell work is different since most wizards pull on their core of magic. Ture dark or light power comes from a separate but still interconnected core.”

Harry turned to his right and tapped into his dark magic and cast a whispered spell and a lion appeared next to him, its tan coat shinning in the sun making a couple of students gasp and step back. Harry then turned and pulled on his light magic and cast another spell and a large snake curled up on the ground and raised itself up as if to strike. He turned back to the students around him.

“Can anyone tell me which one of these animals was made with dark magic and which with light?” Harry asked leaning on his cane.

Noise erupted around him as the students turned to each other as the lion looked around itself and yawned before licking its paw. The snake curled up on the ground without a care.

“Anyone?” Harry called out. “Mr Malfoy?”

“The snake is dark,” The blonde said with a smirk.

Harry grinned and said, “Nope.”

He could always count on a Slytherin to pick the snake as silence greeted him.

He flicked his wand and the lion exploded in dark mists swirling around the students gathered before disappearing. With another flick the snake burst into a white mist, which settled along the ground before absorbing into the earth.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Harry said softly. “It takes a very long time working with magic to pick up the differences between true light and dark magic. My best piece of advice is if you hear the killing curse you duck! Cos it doesn’t matter what type of magic has been used, it will still kill you!”

The students were silent around him.

“If you have creature blood in you, no matter how diluted,” Harry went on. “Telling the difference will be easier for you to spot. Now dark objects…”

And the class went on.

“Are your classes always this interesting?” Dracka asked as the students broke up after the class.

“Nah,” Harry replied. “Sometimes students fall asleep.”

Dracka barked a laugh and clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

“You have an interesting way of telling students that they have creature blood by the way,” Dracka said with a smirk.

“You caught on to that, did you?” Harry smirked back.

xXx

Harry was working with some seventh year students on breaking wards when a knock sounded on his door.

“Come in,” Harry called, watching the Ravenclaw student carefully as he focused on breaking through the ward.

He quickly glanced up to see Severus enter the room before turning back to the seventh year. Harry had a trunk on the floor in the middle of the bronze circle that he had warded and the boy was trying to break into it.

“That’s it,” Harry said softly. “Now curve the spell to match the lock, think of the magic like a piece of metal twisting into the shape of a key. That’s it.”

Harry watched the magic calmly as the boy, Billie Coffer, worked on the trunk. If the boy kept up this level of curse breaking he would have a promising job at Gringotts or the Department of Mysteries. A loud click had the other three students clapping softly as Billie pulled the trunk open and pulled out a box of chocolate frogs.

“Well done, Mr Coffer.” Harry said and broke the protection charm around them. “We'll meet again in a week. Thank you.”

“Bye, sir.”

Harry watched the students leave, Billie holding the box out to the others as they left.

“He has talent that boy,” Harry said to Severus. “I’ll be sure to let the goblins know.”

“Just as long as potions are not needed,” Severus said dryly.

“He isn't good at them?” Harry asked.

“Not if you want to live, if you take one.”

“Ha!” Harry laughed. “Isn’t it strange that so many students that are very talented in charms aren’t in potions.”

“You are talented in both,” Severus pointed out then thought it through. “Potter however…”

“Needs a lot of help and very close supervision,” Harry stated with a grin. “And a backup cauldron just in case. He is smart and picks up most things easily just not potions for some reason.”

“Ha!” Severus barked. “So, you were good at potions at his age?”

“Me?” Harry squeaked. “I was a disaster zone.”

Severus bumped his shoulder against him. “Not anymore.”

“I had time on my side,” Harry said with a grin. “I didn’t even finish school.”

“What?” Severus yelped in shock.

Harry just grinned at him.

“Now, were you after something or just wanted to see my lovely face?” Harry asked with a wink.

“One of your papers is glowing,” Severus deadpanned.

“Really?” Harry said as he moved towards the door. “Great!”

“Is this something I should know about?” Severus asked. “…Or be concerned about?”

Harry grinned at him as he opened his door and made his way to his table and slipped the glowing paper out of the stack of papers and gave it a quick look.

“The message stones I gave to Dracka,” Harry explained, frowning at the paper. “I linked a spell in to inform me if one of his spies came across the dark magic of a Horcrux. One of them has.”

“Really?” Severus asked moving forward and glanced down at the paper. It was just a list of spells with a number at the top of the page.

“How can you tell where and when they came across the magic?” Severus asked.

“Ah, yeah.” Harry muttered rubbing his head. “At the time I didn’t have the power to add that in, just a spell to recognize the magic.”

Severus barked a laugh.

“Hey!” Harry yelped. “In my defence. I was still recovering from being stabbed!”

“So, you don’t know who has the message stone or where that person has been?” Severus asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Harry replied, then grinned. “But I know who does.”

xXx

Dracka looked down at the paper in front of him in dismay.

‘ _These students have no idea_ ,’ Dracka thought as he marked another paper that just made no sense, as he covered the page with his red pen. He felt tempted to just draw a line over the whole page and write 'fail' but reframed.

“Come in,” He called at the knock at the door glad to place the paper aside on his desk.

Blake peeked his head around the door and Dracka waved him in. The man walked in with Severus at his heels and quickly sat in the seat across from him leaving Severus standing.

“Have these students had one decent Defence teacher?” Dracka asked.

“Yes.”

“No.”

Blake and Severus glared at each other, the taller man raising an eyebrow as Blake grinned.

“Remus Lupin was probably the best,” Blake said slowly.

Severus snorted.

“Charmling didn’t seem too bad a teacher either, well, before he tried to kill me,” Blake said with a smirk. “Moody ended up being a Death Eater under Polyjuice. So, I suppose his lessons were from personal experience, the dark arts part anyway, but hey they have a vampire teaching them now, so…”

Dracka just raised an eyebrow and held out the paper. Severus reached forward and grabbed it with a smirk.

“This girl is an idiot,” Severus said slowly. “You should have seen the mess she made of my classroom…twice.”

“That’s why I only deal with the smart ones,” Blake said with a smirk. “I let the other teachers weed out the good ones for me.”

Dracka barked a laugh.

“Yes,” Severus drawled. “You let others do the hard work.”

“Yep,” Blake agreed. “Then take the credit!”

Severus’s lips twitched in a smile before passing back the paper.

“Which is why we are here by the way,” Severus pointed out with a smirk.

“Ah,” Blake said rubbing his head. “Oh yeah.”

“Something I can help you with gentlemen?” Dracka drawled with a smirk of his own.

Blake pulled a paper from his pocket.

“I need to track down the person that has this message stone,” Blake explained. “They came across the magic of a Horcrux.”

“That was the dark magic you were looking for?” Dracka asked.

“Yes.” Blake said.

“Blake, happened to forget to put a tracking charm into the message stones,” Severus drawled.

“I didn’t forget!” Blake yelped and flicked his cane out.

Severus stepped back calmly and the cane missed the man as Blake glared at him.

“I just didn’t have the power or concentration to add in that charm,” Blake said. “Do I have to remind you again that I had been recovering from being stabbed?”

“How do you plan to find out who has it then?” Dracka asked.

“Ah,” Blake said with a grin. “That’s why we came here. I just need one of your message stones, to link it with this paper, then you can send a message to see who has the stone, see easy?”

“Easy?” Severus muttered shaking his head.

Blake grinned and stood up, placing the paper on the table and waited for Dracka to place one of the message stones on top of the paper.

“ _Vocationem coniungere_ ,” Blake muttered and tapped his wand to the stone.

The paper and stone glowed briefly before Blake passed him the stone. Dracka thought for a minute before turning the stone for Blake to see.

_‘The idiot who made these wants to know who holds this stone? Dracka.’_

Severus barked a laugh as Dracka sent the message.

‘ _Cotton,’_ Came back quickly in reply.

“Man’s name is Colin Cotton,” Dracka said to the other two men. “He works in muggle London.”

Blake smiled and looked over to Severus.

“Feel like having a coffee out?” Blake asked.

Dracka huffed a laugh and set up the meeting.

xXx

Harry sipped at his coffee as he watched people moving on the busy street of London through the glass windows. Severus sat stiffly beside him, adjusting his coat every now and again as they waited for Dracka’s man to arrive. Harry just leaned back in the seat enjoying the sounds of people around him on a busy Thursday afternoon.

“I used to bring Ry to a place like this when he was a baby,” Harry said suddenly.

“Is that so?” Severus asked.

Harry could tell he didn’t like the amount of people around them and it may also be the fact that they were all muggles that was bothering Severus. Harry just sat further back in his seat as the voices rolled over him.

“Yes,” Harry said, sipping his coffee. “Ry liked hearing the people, used to send him to sleep. It was the only way I could get work done before he started school.”

“He could sleep with this noise?” Severus asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Harry said softly. “Plus, I like to people watch.”

Harry gave Severus a grin and turned back to the window.

“Too many muggles for my liking.” Severus sneered.

Harry barked a laugh as Severus glared at anyone that would glance over at them. Harry noticed the wizard they were there to meet the minute he walked through the door. The man looked around, his black suit and white shirt well maintained and ironed to sharpness. He had brown hair spiked up in the latest fashion and tan coloured eyes as he quickly focused on Severus and bustled over.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, Mr Sun.” The man said holding a hand out to Severus. “I had a meeting that ran late.”

Harry huffed a laugh as Severus glared down at the hand and the man started to shift nervously.

“I’m Blake Sun,” Harry said softly, taking pity on the man. “This is Severus Snape, please take a seat.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” The man cried, taking a seat. “I didn’t mean any disrespect. I’m a big fan of your message stones, they are so handy and Dracka has spoken about you a few times. The magic in the stones is great! I’ve even tried to look into them myself without any luck. You must tell me how you made them?”

Harry just stared at the man while the words tumbled out.

“Um,” Harry said unsure.

“What can I do for you?” Colin asked with a smile. “I’m not sure what I can help you with, I mainly work with muggles and not wizards.”

Severus snorted.

“I mean,” Colin continued. “From the look of the message stones you must be a very advanced wizard and I just work in a muggle office so I’m not sure I could help you with anything-”

“Stop,” Harry said softly, as he placed the piece of paper on the table.

“I’m sorry Mr Sun,” Colin said in a rush. “I start talking when I get nervous and-“

“Stop,” Harry repeated as Severus snorted and smirked in amusement. “You came across a certain type of magic that I am looking for.”

“Oh,” Colin said. “I don’t know when I might have done that! I spend most of my day in the office-“

“Stop,” Harry snapped. “I want you to look at this list of spells that you have cast while carrying the message stone. See the one I have circled, just after that one you came into contact with the magic I am after.”

“Um, okay.” Colin said looking over the list, then paled when he saw every spell that he had cast.

“Yes,” Harry said with a smirk. “You aren’t as innocent as you pretend to be, Mr Cotton.”

Severus watched in interest as the annoying man paled and his tan eyes widened and wished that he had looked at the list of spells closer before the man arrived.

“Ah,” The man said, looking put out and Harry smirked.

“Gringotts,” Colin said after a couple of minutes of thought. “I was getting money out of my vault.”

“What number?” Harry asked sitting forward in his seat.

“Um,” The man looked nervous and started to fiddle with his hands.

“You will tell me,” Harry said softly. “Or I will take it from your mind, Mr Cotton.”

The man flinched back and even Severus looked shocked.

“Twenty-three,” Colin whispered.

Harry sat back in his seat.

“So, you would have moved past vault twenty-four to get to your vault?" Harry asked softly. "Correct?”

“Um yes…sir.”

“Very well,” Harry said, eyeing the other man. “You may go.”

“Thank you, sir.” The man got to his feet, the piece of paper still in his hand.

“Drop it,” Harry ordered and the paper fell from the man’s hand.

“Oh, sorry.” Colin said and moved as quickly from the coffee shop as he could without drawing attention to himself.

Severus reached out and picked the paper up and looked closer at the list his eyes falling straight away on the killing curse before roaming over the other spells.

“That, my love.” Harry said softly to Severus. “Is why looks are deceiving.”

xXx

Harry limped up the stairs of Gringotts’s bank with Severus at his side.  The bank shone in the late afternoon sun turning the tiles almost gold as he moved through the doors and into the busy bank. Goblins moved around as a long line of Wizards and witches waited for their turn. Severus groaned beside him making Harry smirk.

Harry limped passed the wizards and witches without pausing and Severus fell into step behind him, as glares were thrown in their direction. Harry walked straight up to a goblin working at one of the desks. The beast looked up at him with a sneer.

“Goldsmith,” Harry said simply.

The goblin’s eyes widened and he rushed off as Harry leaned back on his cane and looked around. Severus just looked stunned. The goblin hurried back a couple of minutes later.

“Room six, sir.” The goblin said before going back to his work.

“Thank you,” Harry said and walked around the desk.

“Blake?” Severus hissed.

Harry winked at the taller man as he led him through the corridor behind the tables and out the back of the bank, goblins moving around him. He led Severus down another hallway until they reached room number six. Harry knocked once then moved inside without being told.

“Mr Sun,” A goblin greeted behind a fancy dark wood desk. “What can I do for you?”

“I wish to access vault number twenty-four,” Harry said calmly, taking the seat in front of the goblin’s desk and waving Severus to the other one.

“Do you have a key?” The goblin sneered.

“Do I need one?” Harry counted. “I believe that vault holds a Horcrux.”

The goblin pulled back in his seat and hissed before reaching into the drawer of his desk and placing a key on the table and sliding towards Harry.

“Yes,” The goblin said slowly. “I can see you have a key for that vault. I believe that our business is concluded?”

“Thank you, Mr Goldsmith,” Harry said standing and picking up the key. “I’ll be sure to remove that item, have a good day.”

The goblin nodded and turned back to his work. Harry moved back through the door and towards the back of the bank where the lifts were located.

“What was that about?” Severus hissed.

“A Horcrux,” Harry said softly. “Cannot be held at Gringotts, it is against their law.”

“What?” Severus hissed.

“Goblins are light creature, Severus.” Harry said, turning to the other man. “They can't tolerate a Horcrux being in their bank. I’m kind of surprised that they haven’t found it before now, but being in such a deep vault…”

“I thought they were dark creatures?”

“Ha, that’s what they want wizards to believe.” Harry laughed, turning towards the lifts and pressing a button.

“They have a lift?” Severus questioned faintly.

Harry turned to the man and he felt for him, he was sure that a lot of things Severus believed in had just been turned on its head.

“The cable cart is for the wizards,” Harry smirked. “Biggest joke of the goblins. Don’t tell anyone.”

Harry clapped Severus on the shoulder and pushed him into the lift and pressed button two then four.

“Why do you think it’s in vault twenty-four?” Severus asked, leaning against the wall of the lift.

Harry smirked.

“I was asked to reinforce the wards around that vault after the attack on the Ministry,” Harry said. “I thought it was odd at the time because I had already laid wards on the vault before that. The owner must have paid to have the wards done again, probably after placing the Horcrux in it.”

“Do you know who owns it?” Severus questioned.

“Nope,” Harry said. “And the goblins won’t tell me.”

“They gave you a key,” Severus pointed out.

“Yes, but they won’t tell me who owns the vault,” Harry explained. “They just want the Horcrux gone.”

The lift stopped and the doors opened into the underground network of Gringotts bank. Harry and Severus stepped out and the doors closed behind them blending with the stones of the wall. Severus looked around at the cavern they were in, the train tracks of the cable carts running through the cave with small shelves running along each wall for the levels of the vaults. Below him was just darkness and mist.

Harry cast a light into the air that lit up the shelf they were standing on lighting up vault door number one. The shelf ran into the distance with the train track running beside them before a large gap and with another shelf on the other side.

“This side holds vaults one through to fifty,” Harry said as they set out. “Vaults fifty to a hundred are on the other side.”

A roar shook the ground they were standing on and Harry smiled.

“That’s Pretty,” Harry said with a smirk.

“Pretty?” Severus asked looking in the direction the roar had sounded.

“Pretty Damn Big,” Harry laughed and bumped his shoulder with Severus’s.

“Ha, ha.” Severus said dryly.

“Goblin humour,” Harry smirked. “Takes dad jokes to new levels. Here we are.”

Harry turned to the vault door, feeling his own magic on the wards of the vault. He held out the key and placed it against the door, the bars on the door twisted up like snakes and opened with a creepy creak.

“Ah, shit.” Harry cursed when they got their first look at the vault.

It was packed full of stuff from floor to ceiling.

xXx

Severus moved through the towering piles of stuff around him as he tried, and failed, to sense out any dark magic. He just didn’t have the talent for sensing magic, give him a potion and he could tell you every ingredient in it but when it came to spells and objects…

He knew when an object was really dark since it made him ‘feel’ uneasy but couldn’t ‘see’ the way that Blake seemed to be able to see magic. The room kind of reminded him of the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts as he looked around but with a bit more thought to the pathways as he walked aimlessly.

“We might have to come back with Dracka,” Blake yelled from somewhere. “He can sense out dark magic better than I can.”

Severus smirked as he looked around at a collection of silver teapots. At least the vampire could come in handy with that. He could still see the image of the man lying next to his lover after the battle in France. He had only brought it up with Blake once after the battle but the other man had just laughed it off once Severus recounted it and they didn’t talk of it again.

Blake was happy to talk about just about anything with Severus but there were still topics that they stayed away from and Blake and the vampire were one of them. His problem with sex was the other, Blake was happy to do anything but intercourse and it still bothered Severus about the reasons. The only thing he was able to come up with, is that it had something to do with the torture that the man has suffered.

Severus was so deep in thought he didn’t notice when he started to feel uneasy and his thoughts turned darker as he thought of the torture that his lover had endured as he paused before a stack of gold coins and other gold objects. The light that Blake had thrown up, to the ceiling of the vault, glinting off the gold and Severus paused.

“Find anything Severus?” Blake’s voice rang out and Severus frowned.

Blake was always demanding something.  If it wasn’t tea or coffee at his beck and call it was something else.  Always wanting to work on potions he wanted and always taking too long to help Severus with one of his projects. His work always coming first as he jumped from one contract to another around the world and ignoring him.  Keeping secrets from him and knowing what could happen in the future and yet not saying anything about it.

“Severus?”

Severus turned dark eyes to the man in question and sneered.  The man stood with an arrogant tilt to his head as he leaned on his cane and looked around.

“Did you find something?” The man asked as he limped forward.

Severus pulled himself up to his full height and looked down at the man. He couldn’t even work out how to make a potion to fix the muscles in his leg. Blake rubbed a hand over his short hair and the smile on his face slipped slightly as he looked at Severus.

“Did you find it?” The man asked again, slowly stepping forward. “Severus?”

‘ _Why did I fall in love with this man_?’ He thought darkly, as he moved towards the cripple.

Blake was looking over a pile of gold coins in interest and didn’t notice Severus getting closer to him. The man didn’t even feel like a wizard. He just felt like a muggle.

“I felt something dark over here,” The man said looking around.

Severus moved to stand beside him and Blake turned towards him.

Suddenly Severus grabbed the smaller man by the throat with both hands, the man’s cane falling from his hand from the unexpected attack. Wide green eyes looked up at him as he slammed the man’s back into a wooden cupboard on the other side of the path, objects rattling as he tightened his fingers around the man’s throat.

“Always wanting something,” Severus hissed in his ear as the man struggled, his nails digging into Severus’s wrists.

Severus felt a stab of glee run through him as the man tried to kick out at him but he pulled him forward then slammed him back into the cupboard again using his taller and heavier frame to push the man into the heavy wooden cupboard.

“Severus coffee, Severus can you get that.” Snape snapped.

Blake’s struggles started to grow weaker and Severus sneered down at the other man, black eyes glinting harshly.

“Where is all that power now?” Severus hissed in his ear and pulled back.

Their eyes locked.

Suddenly Severus found himself air born and thrown across the path smashing into the pile of coins with a pain filled grunt as coughing sounds filled the air. Severus groaned and rolled onto his side, his head pounding.

He looked up and froze.

Blake stood above him a cold look in his green eyes and his dark wand pointing down at him.

“Move,” The man hissed, coldness rolling off him making Severus flinch back. “And you will not like what happens, do you understand?”

Severus shivered, the power this man held breaking over him and he felt fear for his life as he looked up at the cold green eyes of the other man. In no doubt, that the man was a powerful wizard as he cowered slightly.

“Blake?” Severus gasped, fear making him shake.

The wand wavered slightly but the eyes stayed focused.

“Release him,” Blake hissed, almost slipping into parseltongue.

Severus looked up with wide eyes already seeing bruising coming up on the other man’s throat from his own hands.

“Oh, god.” Severus whispered, as what he had done crashed down on him.

Blake stared down at him for a few seconds more before he knelt next to Severus, wand still out.

“I think.” Blake said calmly, his voice rough. “That we have found the Horcrux.”

“Oh, god,” Severus repeated. “I don’t…something just…”

“Sh, Severus.” Blake said softly, still keeping a bit of distance between them.

Severus felt a stab in his heart as he looked at the man.  He had attacked him. He had wrapped his own hands around the man’s throat. Severus rolled so he was kneeling and his stomach dropped as Blake stood and stepped back out of his reach.

“I’m so sorry,” Severus whispered, kneeling on the cold ground.

“Stay there,” Blake ordered and Severus flinched.

“Until I find the Horcrux,” Blake said softly but the rough sound of his voice cut through him.

Severus sat back on his heels as Blake moved towards the pile of gold, his wand trained on Severus the whole time. Blake painfully limped forward before flicking his wrist and that silver sword of his dropped into his hand. Severus paled at the sight. The man could have killed him with his sword with just a thought and Dracka’s story of the night that Blake killed his brother floated back to him.

“Blake?” Severus whispered.

Green eyes flicked over at him and he smiled softly as he turned back to the pile of gold. Using that silver sword to move things around until he hooked onto a tiara made of gold and diamonds. Severus felt a stab of hatred run through him at the sight of the gold object and found himself standing without thinking.

“Sit!”

Severus sat, Blake’s magic harshly pushing him down and Severus whimpered. He watched wide-eyed as the man pulled a glass jar from his coat pocket and placed the tiara into it and screwed the lid on.

A darkness lifted from Severus’s mind, that he didn’t even realise was there. His thoughts clear again like cold water washing over him, making him shiver.

“Oh, god.” Severus whispered. “I attacked you!”

Blake turned and looked at him, his green eyes staring down at him, as he placed the jar away in his pocket and dismissed his sword. He paused to pick up his dropped cane, eyes never leaving Severus.

“Yes,” Blake said softly, limping closer. “You did.”

Severus slowly got to his feet and Blake moved towards him his cane tapping on the ground with each step until he stood in front of him. Severus just stood there, he started when arms wrapped around him. He dropped his head to the man’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around the smaller man as his body shook.

Blake ran his hand up and down Severus’s back as the man just held him close and Severus couldn’t have been more grateful than at that moment.

“Sh,” Blake whispered. “It’s okay.”

Severus pushed the other man back gently and lifted a trembling hand up to the man’s throat and touched light fingers to the redness he could see coming up already. He felt sick to the stomach as he looked at the marks.

“I’m sorry,” Severus whispered.

Blake lifted his hand up and caught Severus’s hand, the silver ring on the man’s finger flashing in the light and making Severus flinch back.

“We should get back to the school,” Blake said roughly. “The Headmaster will want to know that we have the Horcrux.”

Severus stepped back and turned his head away. A soft hand touched the side of his face and he turned to look into the green eyes of his lover. Another hand cupped his other cheek and pulled him down for a soft kiss.

“Oh god,” Severus whimpered. “What did I do to deserve you?”

Blake barked a laugh and smacked his ass softly.

“I could say the same,” The man said with a smile but the hoarseness of his voice hung between them.

xXx

Harry kept an eye on Severus as they made their way back up to the main floor of the bank.  The man was hurting. Harry wasn’t sure what he could do to help, the pain in his throat was annoying him and his back and ribs hurt from being pushed into the wooden cupboard. The attack had come out of nowhere and he hadn’t been expecting it.

Once they were clear of the wards of the bank, Harry palmed the portkey and grabbed Severus’s arm. The world spun around them until they stood in the stone room next to the Headmaster’s office. Severus looked around with dull black eyes. Harry didn’t let go of the man’s arm until black eyes locked with his.

“It was the dark magic in your mind, Severus.” Harry said softly. “It was not you.”

Severus and Harry just stared at each other.

“Can I help you boys?”

Harry turned away from Severus to face Albus.

“Oh, god.” Albus gasped.

Harry let Severus go and walked passed the Headmaster and sat heavily in one of the seats before the man's desk

“What happened, Severus?” The Headmaster asked the younger man.

“I attacked him,” Severus whispered.

“What?” The Headmaster yelped.

“It was the Horcrux we found,” Harry said roughly and he was sure he was going to lose his voice.

The other two men came into the room and the Headmaster’s blue eyes roamed over the bruising on his neck before he settled behind the desk.

“I think you should explain.” Albus said sternly.

Harry slowly explained what happened as Severus sat in the seat next to him and only took up the story when Harry’s voice failed him. It took a while and it was close to midnight by the time they were done.

“I think I will break this Horcrux tonight,” Harry whispered. “It is too powerful to leave.”

Harry stood and moved towards the stone room when he realised that Severus wasn’t following him.

“Are you coming?” Harry asked Severus.

The man wouldn’t look at him.

“I think I’ll take the long way down,” Severus said softly.

Harry looked him over and sighed.

“Okay,” Harry whispered. “I’ll meet you back at our rooms when I’m done.”

Harry stepped into the stone room and apparated to the front gates of the school.

xXx

“Severus?” Albus asked softly once Blake was gone.

Severus sat hunched in the chair, his dark eyes locked on the scratches on his wrists. Albus got to his feet and moved around the desk and placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.

“I attacked him,” Severus said softly.

“It was the dark magic in the Horcrux, Severus.” Albus said softly.

“I know that!” Severus snapped and looked up at Albus. “It was the thoughts that were running through my head!”

“They were brought out by the dark magic,” Albus said calmly. “If anyone knows dark magic, it is Blake.”

“The look in his eyes,” Severus said and shivered. “It was so cold.”

Albus sighed.

“I think, my boy.” Albus said softly. “That we forget just how old Blake is. He has lived many life times and understands things we could never grasp in the time we are given on this earth.”

Severus nodded.

“He loves you,” Albus said with conviction.

“And I love him,” Severus whispered.

The words hung in the air, given a voice for the first time.

“And that, Severus.” Albus said softly. “Is why he forgives you.”

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Severus said, with a small smile and stood. “Good night.”

“Good night, Severus.”

xXx

Harry knelt on the floor of his classroom and looked down at the glass jar in his hand.  The tiara glinting up at him as he just stared at the object. With a sigh he unscrewed the top and the dark magic crashed down on him and he groaned. He quickly threw it into the circle and pulled up a protection charm around it caging the item. The dark magic subsided but Harry could still hear it whispering in his mind.

It was no wonder why, it over took Severus so easily. This was a very powerful item as Harry gathered up his magic quickly. Pure light magic gathering at his fingertips, he had to take this Horcrux out quickly as the whispers got louder and it felt like someone was standing behind him as he built his magic up.

“ _Frangere_!” Harry hissed.

The light magic smashed into the tiara, ripping it apart, he got a slight image of the person that was murdered to make the Horcrux, but it was more of a shadow, as his magic ripped and tore through the dark magic eating through it without a care. Harry poured the magic on until nothing remained of the item, not even molten gold.

When his vision cleared he was kneeling alone on the floor of his classroom with only a glass jar and a throbbing in his throat for company.


	6. Chapter Twenty Two

Author's rambling: The way Blake talks about the way homosexual teachers were treated was the way it was in the nineties. I wish I could say that things have changed enough for those attitudes to have changed, but just last month, I heard that a homosexual student can still be expelled from a catholic school here in Australia (where I live).

xXx

Harry felt like shit the next morning when he woke up. He could hear Severus’s soft breathing but the man was curled up away from him. Not even his back touching his.

Harry slowly sat up on the side of the bed and picked up the jar of bruising balm off his bedside table where Severus had left it with a couple of vials of pain potion.

“Do you want me to put some on your back?”

Harry looked over his shoulder at Severus as the man looked back at him with dark eyes.

“Is there bruising back there?” Harry asked, passing the jar over.

Severus pulled himself up in a sitting position and placed his legs on either side of Harry’s. He carefully worked the balm into the bruising on the man’s back, before starting on his neck before passing it back for Harry to finish. Severus rested his chin on the man’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. The two sat like that for a while just taking comfort in the other before Harry patted Severus’s knees and headed for the bathroom.

xXx

Harry looked up at the giant maps he had placed on the walls of his classroom. Every one of his walls had been covered in maps of Europe, the UK, the States and a couple of other places. The large bench he normally had pushed against one of the walls had been moved into the middle of the room, over the bronze circle in his floor, and he had piled up his files in neat sections down the length of it as he'd worked on the maps.

He looked closely at the file in his hand and put another pin in the map of Germany for Simpson’s movements. The Headmaster had come through with Simpson’s school records from the States and Harry had already marked out the map with the man’s movements before he was exiled.

“Come in,” Harry called at the knock at his door.

A low whistle had him turning his head to see Dracka standing there looking around with a few files in his hand.

“Looks like a battle-what the fuck happened to you?” Dracka demanded when he saw the bruises on his neck, his eyes flashing red.

“A brush with a very dark Horcrux,” Harry said calmly, his voice still a little rough.

Dracka stepped forward, concern in his dark eyes as he touched light fingers to the bruising.  Harry stepped back.

“Are they the files from your spies?” Harry asked, reaching for the files.

Dracka pulled them back. “What happened?”

Harry sighed and leaned back on the bench behind him.

“The dark magic of the Horcrux over took Severus,” Harry said softly.

Dracka flinched back.

“I thought there was something wrong with him,” Dracka said softly. “He’s been avoiding me.”

“Ha!” Harry barked. “He should know better than that.”

Dracka gave him a grin, his eyes soft.

“Are you okay?” Dracka asked.

Harry looked away from the vampire as Dracka just let him gather his thoughts. That’s why he liked dealing with the vampire.  They both had age on their side and knew when to give a person time.

“I had a partner once,” Harry said slowly. “We'd worked together for many years and we worked very well. We always knew what the other needed without words.”

“Lover?”

“Um, no.” Harry said, looking up at the other man. “Her name was Jessica she was married to one of my best friends from school. We were Aurors together…”

“What happened?”

“We were tasked with flushing out some Dark Wizards,” Harry said softly. “I was only young and didn’t have the skills I do now with dark magic. Didn’t even really understand it or even knew I had dark magic.”

Dracka felt a stab of forbidding in his stomach.

“Jess and I had the back of the mansion while another team had the front.” Harry said remembering the day. “We had back up on standby…it was a trap.”

Harry fell silent for a couple of minutes as Dracka leaned against the bench beside him.

“The minute we smashed through into the house they released the dark magic,” Harry whispered. “It was…suffocating.”

Dracka laid his hand on the other man’s knee, understanding the feel of something taking over his mind, due to his demon.

“Jessica turned to me and stabbed her sword straight into my stomach before I could react,” Harry continued softly, subconsciously rubbing the spot on his stomach. “The pain cleared my mind enough for me to roll out of the way when she swung the sword at my head. That day was the first day I pulled on the power of the hollows and felt the dark magic flood into my veins…

“The dark magic of the hollows ran through my system and I found myself standing with my own sword out and blocking Jess.” Harry stopped talking for a second, seeing Jess’s normally soft brown eyes blank and hollow before him.

“Did you kill her?” Dracka asked softly.

“Um, no.” Harry said softly. “But I broke her leg in such a way that it never healed right and she was in St Mungo’s for about three weeks. The other team didn’t fare as well. They killed each other the minute that the trap was sprung. Took the backup team too long to counter the dark magic and get us out.

“The hollows saved my life that day,” Harry whispered, looking down at Dracka’s hand on his knee. “I can understand what it feels like when dark magic takes over your mind so completely. I don’t think Severus has ever had much contact with such magic before.”

“He is strong,” Dracka said softly. “I’m sure his time with the Dark Lord will help him get passed this.”

“He told you about that?” Harry asked in surprise.

Dracka grinned and passed him the files in his other hand.

“I was a bit surprised when he showed me the dark mark shortly after you had broken the connection,” Dracka admitted.

Harry smiled sadly as took the files in hand and flicked the first one open.

“Doesn’t seem the type?” Harry asked, as he placed each file open on the right pile on the table.

Dracka barked a laugh.

“Oh no,” Dracka smirked darkly. “There is plenty of darkness in that man’s core for him to be drawn to a Dark Lord.”

“Oh, god.” Harry snapped, turning to the vampire. “Please don’t tell him that!”

“You haven’t told him how much dark magic he has at his fingertips?” Dracka asked in surprise.

“No,” Harry said softly. “I don’t think that conversation would go down well.”

Dracka barked a laugh before fixing his dark eyes on Harry’s green ones.

“What happened with Jessica?” He asked softly.

Harry stilled at the table and looked away from the vampire.

“She killed herself six months later,” Harry said softly and Dracka flinched back. “She couldn’t deal with the dark magic and what it made her do.  The funeral was pretty tense. Her husband came up to me, yelling in front of my wife and children and everyone else gathered and asked me to leave.”

Harry could still remember that day and was sure he would remember it for as long as he lived. He had stood there in shock with little James’s hand in his and Ginny holding Albus looking pale and in shock as Seamus yelled at Harry with tears running down his face as Ron tried to push through the crowd to get to them.

Harry had just let the man yell as he held his son close, when Seamus had run out of breath and before Ginny could let loose. He'd grabbed her arm and pulled her away and they had left with Seamus’s words ringing in his ears.

“Wife?”

Dracka’s question broke into Harry's thoughts and he looked up at the vampire.

“Ah, yeah.” Harry said, looking put on the spot. “A wife and three children, well two at that stage, but that was many life times ago.”

“And a different sexual preference,” Dracka said with a leer.

Harry’s fist hit Dracka’s shoulder before the vampire even knew he was moving, which impressed the other man as he rubbed the spot and gave the man a leer.

“Shut it you,” Harry snapped without heat. “Now help me mark these spots off on these maps.”

Dracka gave the other man a sly smile before they turned to the work ahead of them.

xXx

Severus looked around Blake’s classroom in interest as the man finished up on the phone. He had seen him briefly at dinner but he had left quickly after speaking to a couple of students and grabbing something to eat. Severus wasn’t sure if it was because the man was busy or just wanted to get away from the whispers of the students since the bruising was still clear to see on his throat.

It had been interesting to see the way that Dracka had glared at the other man, while rubbing his arm. Severus had questioned him about it but all he got in reply was a glare of his own before the man stalked off.

“Okay…yeah,” Blake said. “I’ll look into it and get back to you, bye.”

Blake hung up and moved back towards Severus with a smile.

“Like my wall art?” Blake questioned with a wave of his hand.

“It’s lacking in style,” Severus replied, nose in the air.

“Ha, ha.” Blake said with a wink. “At least it has a flare of colour.”

That it did, there were different coloured pins and lines all over the maps so that it looked more like a spider had gotten into a tin of paint and gone for a walk than anything else. Where there was a pin there was Blake’s neat writing, in German, below it.

Severus studied the map of England with interest. There were lots of coloured pins and bright red lines everywhere and he wasn't sure how Blake could make any sense of it.

“The Dark Lord’s movements,” Blake explained. “The red lines are after he was reborn and the red and black ones are before. Well, as much as we can work out anyway.”

“What is all this in aid of?” Severus asked.

Blake just grinned his pale green eyes shining.

“What did you do to Dracka?” Severus asked instead.

“Ha!” Blake laughed. “I hit him.”

“You what?” Severus asked shocked. “Why?”

“He was being perverted,” Blake deadpanned.

“So, you hit an elder vampire in the arm?” Severus asked sweetly. "And when isn't he being perverted?"

“It's a vampire thing,” Blake replied with a grin. “I then made him do my work for me.”

Severus gave a bark of laughter. 

Blake was one of a kind, all right. The other man smiled up at him letting the laughter roll over him.

“Are you going to leave these maps here?” Severus asked looking around.

“Um,” Blake said unsure. “Yeah I suppose. They probably won't be up for very long anyway and unless one of my students can read German it should be okay. I’ll keep the door locked. If they get through that, they deserve the information. If they can work out what I can't, that is.”

xXx

Harry moved down the hallway to Severus's lab and paused at the door, the man had locked it. Harry grinned and placed his hand on the handle and picked up the locking charm quickly and worked his way through it until it clicked softly and he opened the door silently.

He slipped into the room to find Severus peering into the cauldron in front of him and Harry closed the door and brought up the locking charm behind him. Severus glanced over at him and sighed.

"Breaking in to raid my supplies…again?" Severus drawled.

"Heard that Madam Pomfrey had put in a request for potions," Harry replied as he placed his notebook and files in his hand on the closest table as he moved towards Severus.

"Have you got a request to add?" Severus asked as he leaned his hip against the table as he stirred.

"No," Harry said calmly as he picked up the list before placing it down and moving to the supply cupboard.

"Why are you here, Blake?" Severus asked tiredly.

Harry paused and looked over at the man, he hadn't been sleeping well and Harry frowned in concern.

"I thought I would help you," Harry replied.

Severus looked him over with dark unreadable eyes and Harry gave him a grin as he started to pull out potion ingredients and a couple of potion books as he moved to one of the lab tables and set it up to prep the ingredients for Severus. The other man looked him over for a few seconds before going back to the potion he was working on.

Both men fell into silence as Harry prepped the ingredients and Severus brewed and they soon had a few potions going around them. Both men working seamlessly as they made their way through the list that Poppy had given Severus.

"Did you study under a potion master?" Severus asked suddenly.

"No," Harry replied softly. "The woman that taught me specialised in Charms with a hobby in potions. Brilliant woman with a quick wit and great sense of humour. She was doing work in combining charms and potions, which piped my interest."

"Department of Mysteries?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Harry replied, remembering the woman. "Promoted from the Auror Department."

The two men fell into a comfortable silence again as they worked.

"Dracka told me about Jessica," Severus said quietly.

Harry's hand stilled before he started cutting into the Beeroot carefully, with the knife in his hand.

"Yes," Harry replied. "I thought he might."

"I could have killed you," Severus said quietly.

"No," Harry snapped and turned to Severus.

He sighed when he looked at the man and placed the knife back on the table behind him as he moved towards the taller man. Severus watched him with wary eyes and Harry stopped as his heart clenched in his chest.

"Severus," Harry said softly then stopped.

Severus cast a status charm over the potion he was working on and turned to Harry as he leaned back on the bench.

"Dark magic likes to whisper in the back of your mind," Harry said as the cauldrons bubbled around them. "It doesn't want to be seen until it wants to."

"You make it sound like it is alive?" Severus drawled, but his eyes were intense.

"Everything is alive," Harry said with a quirk to his lips. "When you cast a spell, you give it life as you shape it. Dark and light power is such a potent kind of magic and that is why a lot of wizards won't know they even have that kind of magic until they are halfway through their lives or not at all. That is why they don't teach sensing or seeing magic here, so few children would understand it."

"The horcrux?" Severus questioned.

"Dark items like the horcrux is built up on dark magic and dark arts," Harry said. "The spell rips a part of the caster's soul away as they murder their victim, torturing them to death in pain and suffering. That is the personality that item gets. It wants to inflict pain and suffering. That was probably why it was moved to that vault to begin with. Each horcrux is different as each person is. That horcrux that took you over was whispering in my mind as well Severus."

Severus's eyes widened as they looked at him and Harry gave him a grim smile.

"What?" Harry asked with a quirk to his lips. "Do you think I'm immune to dark magic?"

"Yes," Severus answered and Harry barked a laugh.

"I just have a greater resistance against it, Severus." Harry said mildly. "I have worked with dark magic for a very long time. I have held it in my hands and moulded it to the way that I want before releasing it to destroy."

Harry could see a shiver run down Severus's back.

"It is not magic that you pick up lightly and think it's going to behave the same as your wizard core," Harry said as he looked the other man over. "You broke through the hold that horcrux had on you, Severus."

Severus started as he looked at him and Harry gave him a smile as he moved closer to him.

"Didn't feel like that," Severus whispered.

"It never does with dark magic," Harry replied. "Now, we should get back to work."

Severus moved forward and took the man in a hard hug before leaning down and capturing his lips in a kiss. Harry gave him a grin as he pulled back.

"Come on," Harry whispered. "We don't want a Neville Longbottom accident in here."

"Oh, god." Severus moaned.

Severus gave him one more look before they turned back to their work, with only the sounds of bubbling and cutting breaking the comfortable silence between them.

xXx

Harry looked at his class of fifth through seventh years as they sat around on the floor on conjured pillows or chairs as he sat on the bench at the back of his classroom. The maps still hung on his walls but the files had been put away. He could see a few students looking the maps over as he watched them.

“So,” Harry started. “What do you want to learn today?”

The class groaned and Harry grinned wider as Ry snorted.

“Hey, come on you lot.” Harry said with a smile. “I bet your other Professors don’t ask you what you want to learn and we are in your time. So, come on. Yes, Ms Greengrass?”

“Um,” The girl replied and Harry waved his hand. “Healing magic?”

“Can’t help you,” Harry said simply. “Next? Ms Granger?”

“Why?” Hermione asked.

“Really?” Harry asked looking around. “You don’t know?”

“No, sir.” Hermione said.

“You need a certain set of skills for healing magic,” Harry replied. “I do not have them. I can do basic healing charms of course. Well, more like battle field healing charms. Let me give you a bit of advice, when a friend is bleeding out, you use what you know and then when the nurse yells at you when you have made it ten times harder for them. You grin and bear it. As long as you know what you are doing, otherwise just stick to the muggle way. Yes, Ms Greengrass?”

“Nurse?” The girl asked and Harry could see a couple of other students looking confused.

“Sorry,” Harry said with a grin. “Forgive my muggle upbringing. Mediwitch or mediwizard.”

“You were raised by muggles?” A fifth year Slytherin blurted out.

“Yep,” Harry replied mildly.

“Does that mean you are muggleborn?” The Slytherin asked.

“Nope,” Harry said with a grin. “Half blood, any more personal questions or can we move on?”

“Your leg,” Mr Malfoy asked softly and the class went silent. “The mediwizards couldn’t fix that?”

“There are limitations to all magic, Mr Malfoy.” Harry said softly. “I was bitten by a Western Barred Snake. This snake is a magical creature and its venom eats into the muscles and flesh at the site of the bite. The Doctors can only work on what they have, there was nothing there to work with. They tried and I can walk, so I count myself lucky. Mr Potter?”

“But Skele-Gro works on bones,” Ry said softly. “How come there isn’t anything to work on muscles?”

“There are,” Harry replied. “But when you are working on a magical injury. It gets complicated very quickly. The same as when you are working on an injury that is caused by silver, due to the fact the silver cuts the skin as well as your magic. You are best to leave those kinds of injuries to someone that knows what they are doing.

“Now, if you are interested in medical magic, I’m sure that Madam Pomfrey could test you to see if you would be suited for that kind of magic.” Harry continued. “And I can teach you the basics, but I must warn you, I’m really not good at them. Ms Granger?”

“What are the skills you need?” Hermione asked softly.

“A well-trained mind to begin with,” Harry replied. “Light magic helps, because it wants to heal and create and a working knowledge of the human body. There are reasons that nurses and doctors have to study for so long. Mr Malfoy?”

“So,” Draco said with a frown. “People with dark magic can’t do healing magic?”

“No,” Harry answered. “They can. Not everything is about the kind of power you hold. Don’t forget you are wizards and witches and you hold that power as well.”

“Can you explain that, sir?” Draco asked.

“Which part?” Harry asked as he looked around.

“Wizard power and dark and light power?” Draco questioned.

“Right then, are you lot comfortable because this could take a while?” Harry said with a grin and sat back on the bench. “So as wizards or witches we all hold a wizard’s core.”

Harry held out a hand and a rainbow coloured ball formed in his hand and he floated it closer to the students.

“All of you, pull on this magic.” Harry said, as he looked at the glowing ball.

Harry held his hand out again and a ball of white mists swirled into view.

“Light power,” Harry explained and let it float close to the first ball.

The two balls moved closer together, like they were drawn to each other.

“They are two parts of the same,” Harry explained, as the white mists swirled around the first ball of light. “They will be drawn together because they are both my magic.”

The students stared as the ball of white mist swirled in with the rainbow coloured ball until it was one single ball. Seamlessly moving together as one.

“But sir,” Malfoy called out. “You have dark power?”

“I do,” Harry replied. “And due to the wards on this school, if I added that to the mix. The Headmaster would know and he wasn’t pleased after the last time.”

“But the light magic is your magic?” Hermione questioned.

“Yep,” Harry replied. “I have both, which is rare, but it does happen. The dark magic would act the same as the light. It’s all the same in the end.”

“What about the dark arts then?” Malfoy asked.

“It's vile magic,” Harry spat, as he looked at them all. “It twists your magic and your soul. There is a large difference between dark magic and the dark arts.”

“Why do some books say they are the same?” Hermione asked.

“Because they were written by idiots,” Harry replied, and a couple of students snickered at his language. “They do not understand what dark magic is and how it is used. I think that’s it for tonight. Anyone wanting to learn healing magic let me know and I’ll see what I can do for you. Good night, everyone.”

Harry watched as all the students filed out marvelling again at the backwards thinking of the wizards of this age and the knowledge he held. He knew given time that people's attitudes would change. Well, everything would change as the muggles gained in technology and the wizards started to take notice, but that was only the beginning.

“Blake?”

Harry looked up to see Severus in the doorway looking at him with a frown.

“Yes?” Harry purred, not moving.

Severus moved into the room and shut the door behind him.

“You seemed to be somewhere else there?” Severus questioned, as he moved closer.

“Yes,” Harry replied. “Are you after something?”

Severus moved until he stood in front of the other man with a frown.

“What were you thinking about?”

“Just the way people think now,” Harry replied and ran a hand over his head. “I’m still getting used to it, even now.”

“What was it like?” Severus asked softly, the man didn’t talk about the time he had come from, then a thought came to him and he felt cold. “Would you go back?”

“No,” Harry said shortly. “No, I wouldn't go back. I doubt I would even have a chance to. Time magic is a strange type of magic. The timeline I came from, wouldn't be the time line we are in now.”

Severus cupped the man’s face and looked into his eyes.

“No,” Harry repeated again as he looked up at Severus. “I suppose stepping through that time rip was similar to when I would leave a name behind or life behind. Start over again.”

Severus stepped between the other man’s legs and Harry let his hands rest on his hips as he thought about the time he had come from.

“It wasn’t illegal for Professors of Hogwarts, of the same sex, to have a relationship,” Harry said softly. “Teachers that were homosexual weren’t sneered at or discouraged. It wasn’t counted as an act against god. That attitude changed quickly.”

Severus’s grip tightened on his legs and Harry looked up at him.

“People were more forgiving of other people's differences,” Harry said as he looked at the other man. “As you know, I don’t really care if people approve or not.”

“Yes,” Severus drawled. “You made that clear to the whole Great Hall.”

Harry snorted and grinned as he pulled the other man closer.

“Have you always had male partners?” Harry asked, curiously.

“Yes,” Severus answered shortly. “From your skills, I know you have had male partners before.”

Harry barked a laugh and pulled the man down for a kiss.

“You sound surprised?” Harry questioned.

“At first I was,” Severus admitted.

“Really?” Harry asked with a frown. “Why?”

“Mentioning a wife might have had something to do with that,” Severus drawled.

Harry laughed as he ran his hands under the man’s shirt, feeling the soft skin.

“Yes,” Harry said softly. “I can understand the confusion."

Severus smiled as he looked down at him.

“You had children with her?” Severus whispered.

“Yes,” Harry agreed. “Three. Two boys and a girl.”

Severus cocked his head to the side.

“Any more?”

Harry looked away, the pain was still raw. Severus rubbed his thighs and let him collect his thoughts.

“I had two other children,” Harry said softly. “They were killed just before I came here. Two little boys…”

Severus wrapped his arms around him and Harry let his head rest on the man’s chest. Harry slipped his hands around the man’s hips under his belt and let his hands rest there as Severus rubbed his back.

“So, did they throw dark and light magic around as much as you do, in your time?” Severus asked, his voice a rumble in his chest.

“I’m just special,” Harry said as he pulled back and looked up at the man. “That’s what happens when you have as many years working with magic that I have. You pull the magic that you believe you need at the time, regardless of the type, which is why I forget when I’m working. Until the Headmaster knocks on my door, which reminds me that I should look at that ward again.”

Severus barked a laugh and kissed the man as his hands ran up his sides under his shirt. Harry slipped forward on the bench and wrapped his legs around the other man and pulled him closer. Severus shrugged out of his robes to leave him in his shirt and pants.

Harry ran his fingertips down the man’s left forearm. The dark mark was completely gone now with only soft skin left behind, with no hint of the mark ever being there. Severus watched him with dark eyes as Harry placed his hand over the spot.

"I can't feel anything there anymore," Harry said softly. "I wasn't sure if the tattoo would completely disappear once the connection was broken…"

"The mark you put on Dracka and the vampires?" Severus asked softly.

"Had no connection to me," Harry said, as he looked up at the other man. "It was just a marker for the wards with no active connection."

"You were an Auror?" Severus asked and his hands stilled on Harry's thighs.

"I was," Harry replied as he leaned back on the bench. "Until I was medically retried after I was tortured."

"How long?" Severus asked softly.

"Was I an Auror?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"About Fifty years, give or take." Harry said as he thought about it. "They wanted to assign me a desk after I recovered from being tortured but that would have driven me up the wall."

Severus snorted.

"We can't even keep you at this school for more than a couple of weeks," Severus drawled.

"Oh, yeah." Harry said with a smirk. "The goblins want me to do some work in the German branch. Plus, it would give me a chance to look into a few things while I'm over there about Simpson."

Severus gave him a grin and Harry smiled back.

"You know," Harry said as he looked at his watch. "I could go for a beer if you want to go to Hogsmead?"

Severus gave him a smirk and pulled him forward for a kiss.

"Or we could hire a room for the night?" Harry said when he pulled back. "It is a Friday night, we could make it a weekend? I could do with getting out of the castle for a little while."

xXx

Harry looked at the maps on Germany carefully as he added another pin as he waited for the others to arrive. He was getting closer and he was sure that Germany had something to do with it. He still wasn’t sure why Simpson had left but he felt he was getting closer.

“Watch it vampire!”

Harry looked up as Dracka walked through the door smirking with Severus right after him glaring. Harry raised an eyebrow in question but the vampire just bared his fangs at him. The Headmaster entered last, shaking his head at the other two men.

“Problem?” Harry drawled.

“The boys were just having a bit of a disagreement,” The Headmaster said, with a twinkle in his eyes. “They are done now.”

“Um, right.” Harry said slowly. “So, onto business then. I have found a time when Simpson and the Dark Lord could have crossed paths. It looks like the Dark Lord was in Germany back when I was meeting with the Council the first time in France.”

Harry pointed out the spot on the map for the other men.

“Then for some reason,” Harry kept going. “The Dark Lord was leaving and heading back here.”

“Where did Simpson go?” Severus asked looking a little pale.

“We lose his trail for about six months,” Harry said softly. “It looks like he goes to ground. Dracka’s spies pick him back up over near the French border briefly. He must be a sneaky bastard to be able to evade vampires for so long.”

Dracka grinned showing fangs to Severus who rolled his eyes. Harry ignored them both.

“The next time we pick him up,” Harry said softly. “He has moved across the border into France. This is when it gets interesting.”

Dracka frowned.

“What did you see in the files that I didn’t?” Dracka asked while Severus sneered at him.

Harry flipped open a file and read out to the others.

“ _’Simpson seems to be gathering vampires to his side, I can feel more of a dark pull to the man’_ and from another spy. ‘ _A giant has joined his cause, there is a darkness to this man_.’” Harry looked up at the men around him. “I am concerned that he may have started dark rituals already to increase his power.”

The room went silent around him.

“How close did you get to the man in the battle, Dracka?” Harry asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

“We tore through the curse breaker and his team,” Dracka said. “Then I moved back over the wards and left my second in command. I don’t recall feeling anything overly dark…well except you.”

Harry snorted.

“Thanks,” He said dryly. “Nice boost to my ego.”

Severus smirked as the Headmaster looked amused.

“So, yeah.” Harry said as Dracka leered at him. “He drops off the map again for a while, there are rumours of him crossing back into Germany, then he makes his strike against the Council and three other villages.”

Harry limped back to the long table, that he had moved back to the middle of his room and picked up a stack of files.

“These are the files from the battle,” Harry explained. “I have read through them three times at least. I can find no reference to a dark power.”

“What does that mean?” Dracka asked.

“I don’t think the man was at the battle,” Harry said softly. “Not one person saw him.”

“What?” Severus asked.

“If this is true,” Harry said slowly. “We could be in a lot of trouble.”

“What do you mean, my boy?” The Headmaster asked, frowning like the others.

Dracka paled as he stared at Harry and the man nodded.

“Tell them,” Harry said softly.

“We could already have another Dark Lord,” Dracka said into the silence.

Severus and Albus paled as the vampire's words sunk in.

“The power of a Dark Lord is clear,” Harry said quietly. “Those that can sense magic, it’s like a beacon, we can feel it the minute we come into contact with them. It was that reason that I could feel it when the Dark Lord arrived in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic from the Department of Mysteries."

“That's about six floors,” Albus said softly.

“Dracka,” Harry said instead. “How far off is my power to a Dark Lord’s?”

Dracka’s eyes flashed red and he grinned showing fangs, Harry pointed at the man as the Headmaster and Severus paled.

“Though most of the time,” Dracka said slowly, red eyes shining. “You barely feel above a muggle.”

“Really?” Harry asked surprised, Dracka just grinned his eyes changing back to black. “I keep my magic very close for that reason. A full Dark Lord just can’t hold it that close unless they have hundreds of years of dealing with the magic and I cheat a bit.”

“How so?” Severus asked.

“I also hold light magic,” Harry purred, making Severus and Dracka shiver. “A Dark Lord can sense my power more easily. Dark Lord Voldemort offered me a place next to him the first time we met.”

“Fuck,” Dracka cursed as Severus and Albus paled.

“You never said…” Albus started then ran out of words in disbelief.

“What, you think I would change sides?” Harry asked, leaning on his cane and looked at them in amusement. “Are you serious? You idiots.”

Dracka barked a laugh and slapped Harry’s shoulder.

“Do I seem like someone that wants to rule the world?” Harry said softly. “I’m having trouble just trying to get Ry to pass potions.”

Severus barked a laugh.

“I’m even sleeping with the Professor that marks his papers and that doesn’t even help!” Harry smirked.

“I didn’t hear that,” Albus stated, as Dracka snorted.

“You say one word, Dracka.” Harry warned, as the vampire opened his mouth.

“So, what do we do now?” Albus asked after a few minutes.

“We can’t do much more until the man resurfaces,” Harry said with a sigh.

“Then what?” Dracka asked.

“We need to get close enough to tell if the man has completed any dark rituals to become a Dark Lord,” Harry said, leaning back on his table.

“You didn’t do any…” Albus trailed off and Harry looked confused.

“I didn’t what?” Harry asked, looking around at the other men in the room.

“I think…Albus is trying to say…” Severus said softly, as the other two looked at him. “Did you do any dark rituals…?”

“What!” Harry yelped. “You idiots!”

Harry looked around at each man speechless, not even Severus would meet his eyes.

“No!” Harry yelped. “Do you know what you have to do! To do one of those things!?”

“No, my boy.” Albus said softly. “We don’t.”

Harry deflated looking around him before smacking the files down on the table and stalking out of the room. Severus went to go after him but Dracka’s steel grip on his arm, stopped him. Severus turned on the vampire ready to lash out until he locked eyes with him.

“Mr Dracka?” Albus asked softly.

“To do any dark ritual to increase your power,” Dracka said softly. “Involves murder.”

Severus paled and looked at the door that Blake had just walked through.

“Each person you kill can increase your power in that ritual,” Dracka calmly explained. “Some Dark Lords have murdered whole villages or even cities to do them.”

“Did we just accuse Blake of mass murder?” Severus whispered.

Dracka snorted. “I’m sure he won’t take it personally.”

“That’s because you didn’t know what you were accusing me of,” Harry said, as he came back through the door. “Except you vampire.”

Dracka grinned showing fangs and Harry barred his teeth at the man briefly before holding a notebook out to the Headmaster.

“Don’t read it on a full stomach,” Harry warned. “And there are pictures.”

Albus flicked the book open to see Blake’s neat writing and looked at the first picture and paled.

“Don’t let that book out of your sight,” Harry warned.

Severus looked over the Headmaster’s shoulder and paled as well as he saw the picture.

“You want to know what it takes to become a Dark Lord,” Harry said softly. “Those pictures are stills from my memories of what we found after a Dark Lord had used one of her rituals. That woman’s dark power made mine look like it was just grey.”

“Did you kill her?’ Dracka asked in interest.

“We didn’t need to,” Harry said, with a dark twist to his lips. “Her victims got their revenge in the end.”

The other three men in the room shivered at Harry’s words.


	7. Chapter Twenty Three

Harry leaned back on the bench behind him as voices rang out casting spells. Today the students were working on protection circles, this was the kind of magic that could save a person's life and Harry was going to make sure that the students would be able to pull up the most powerful charm they could. It also helped the students work out how much power they should put into their spell to break through the barrier.

He had them set up for one person to cast a circle and the other student had to smash through it. Harry watched them with his hand taping against the bench as Granger smashed through Malfoy’s circle and they changed spots. The two students working well together as Harry looked around the classroom.

Harry idly picked up the black cube that had been holding some papers down and juggled it between his hands, eyes roaming over the students. Suddenly a yelp of pain rang out and Harry whipped his head in that direction. One of the Slytherins had used a cutting charm.

“I said stunners only, Mr Peace!” Harry’s voice cracked out over the classroom. “Please help Mr Fuller up to the hospital wing.”

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." The boy said and the two moved out of the room.

“Mr Sun?”

Harry turned to see Draco Malfoy holding up the black cube.

“Thank you, Mr Malfoy.” Harry grinned taking the cube out of the boy's hand.

“No, Mr Sun.” Malfoy said. “That collapsed my protection charm.”

“It did what?” Harry asked turning his full attention on the blonde.

“It just rolled through my charm collapsing it,” Draco said.

Harry just stared at Draco before looking down at the cube.

“Huh,” Harry muttered. “Okay everyone, that’s it for today, except you Mr Malfoy. Thank you.”

Everyone made their way out of the classroom.

Harry moved towards the bronze circle on the floor with Draco on his heels. He held the cube out to the blonde.

“Please hold this.” Harry said.

The Slytherin held the cube, puzzled as Harry easily pulled up a protection circle around him.

“Okay, throw it here.” Harry said.

The blonde threw it at him, the cube smashed into the protection circle collapsing it and Harry caught it. Harry threw it back to the Blonde as he pulled up a stronger charm.

“Again, please.” Harry ordered.

Once again, the cube sailed through the air and smashed into the charm collapsing it. Harry grinned and threw it back to the blonde. He placed the tip of his wand to the bronze circle and threw up the most powerful charm he could without it cracking under the pressure of the magic. The dome turned green making Draco gasp and his eyes widen as he looked the charm over.

“Okay, again.” Harry ordered, holding the spell in place.

Draco tossed the cube and it smashed into a hundred pieces and Harry sighed. Then suddenly the cube as hurtling at his head and he caught it in shock as the charm collapsed.

“Thank you, Mr Malfoy.” Harry said grinning. “I owe you one. Now off you go.”

The boy grinned back before grabbing his bag and moving out of the room. Harry looked down at the cube and laughed as he threw it up in the air. After all these years and he finally had an idea about what the small item did.  That was how Severus found him some time later. Harry turned to Severus with a big grin on his face as held the cube up.

“You are never going to believe this!”

xXx

“Blake.”

Harry turned to the Headmaster and limped back towards the man with a smile, until he noticed the notebook in his hand. The Headmaster held it out to him and he took it.

“I apologise,” The Headmaster said softly. “I was severely out of line.”

“Ignorance is bliss, Headmaster.” Harry said softly.

“I still wish to apologise,” Albus said softly.

Harry tucked the notebook away.

“Why do you…”

“Have the notebook?” Harry finished for him.

“Yes,” Albus replied.

Harry rubbed his head looking around at the students moving around them.

“To remind myself,” Harry said at last. “What a person with dark power is capable of.”

“You are not one of them,” Albus said softly.

Harry gave the man a sharp nod and turned on his heels without saying a word, Albus just watched the man limp away down the hallway.

xXx

Harry settled back in his seat in the Headmaster's office with a cup of tea in his hands as he looked over the items on the man's desk in interest as he waited for the Headmaster to arrive, unsure what the man had called him up here for.

"I need your help."

Harry started and looked over at the Headmaster as he moved around his desk to take a seat.

"With what?" Harry asked as he looked the man over.

"We have had reports of some of Voldemort's supporters hiding out in a house in east London," Albus said calmly as he leaned back in his seat. "The Order can't get close enough to scope it out."

"What do you need my help for then?" Harry asked with a frown. "Is it the wards?"

"I was hoping you would have better luck planting some of those listening devices of yours?"

"You want me to break into the house?"

"Yes."

"And plant listening devices?"

"Yes," Albus replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Anything else while I'm there?" Harry asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. "Leave a bunch of flowers maybe?"

"Only if you believe that would be the right course of action," Albus replied with a straight face.

"Ha!" Harry barked. "Give me the address and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, my boy." Albus said with a smile and floated over a piece of paper that Harry picked out of the air.

Harry looked the address over with a frown.

"This is a Nott property," Harry replied and looked up to see the surprise on the Headmaster's face. "It will have blood wards on the house."

Albus paled at Harry's words.

"Can you get passed them?" Albus questioned.

"You said that death eaters have been coming and going?" Harry questioned as he sat back in his seat.

"Correct."

"How close can your men get?"

"The street," Albus replied mildly. "The house is set back from the road with the wards starting at the fence line."

Harry tapped his leg in thought.

"Wouldn't it be easier to raid the house?" Harry asked. "Kingsley could back you up with the Aurors. If they have the dark mark that is enough to arrest them."

"Voldemort has been sighted there," Albus said calmly.

"You think he would come to their aid?" Harry said as he thought through the options. "If I could get into the house, I could cut the floo and pull up anti-apparation wards."

"The blood wards?"

"There are ways around blood wards," Harry said with a smirk. "And those ways would probably give you one hell of a headache, Albus."

Harry could see the shiver run down Albus's back and he gave the man a grin.

"You know how to creep people out, Blake." Albus said quietly.

"It's a talent," Harry replied. "Give me a week or so to look into this place. Give Kingsley the heads up, but only him, we don't want this to go too far in the Auror department. Bloody gossips the lot of them."

"Perfect," Albus said with a smile. "Now, about you time card. You haven't submitted the times you have worked for the last two months, Blake."

Harry groaned.

"This was so much easier when it was just a once off contract," Harry moaned as he pulled out his diary while Albus barked a laugh.

xXx

Avery Nott looked around the bar with a sneer on his lips as the muggles moved around them. He wouldn't normally be found in such a place but with so many death eaters using his house, he'd had to get out and the pub seemed like the place to go. There was a small stage set up tonight and Avery eyed it off with interest as the noise picked up around him.

A couple of death eaters had decided to join him and he could see more than one fingering their wards as they looked around but they were under strict orders not to harm any muggles unless the Dark Lord ordered it, plus this was his patch.

"What's with the stage?" Malfoy whispered from beside him.

"How the hell should I know?" Nott snapped back and Malfoy glared at him.

They took an interest as a young slim man in his early twenties with pitch black hair and green eyes took the stage. Nott could feel the sense of magic around the man, so he was a wizard, as he gave the crowd a grin and pushed back his shaggy black hair from his eyes. He wore a tight grey shirt that showed off his body and his black jeans hugged his legs as he looked out over the crowd. His tanned skin seemed to glow under the dim lights as he moved with grace towards the microphone with a wide grin.

"Welcome everybody," The man purred and Nott shivered. "My name is Mal and I've been asked to keep you entertained tonight."

"I can think about how he could keep us entertained," Malfoy whispered in Nott's ear and the man nodded in agreement.

"I'll be happy to take any requests," The man continued with a slight grin on his red lips as he looked around. "As long as I know them, of course. Well, let's get started."

Mal picked up the microphone as the first strands of music started up, the man's voice carried throughout the bar and the noise dropped. The man had talent as he sung his way through a few songs and he soon had the pub spell bound. Even Nott was impressed, for he normally preferred a female's voice, as the man worked the crowd.

"Yes," Malfoy purred in his ear. "I'm sure he could keep us entertained."

"You know our orders," Nott reminded the other man.

"He only said muggles," Malfoy replied with a smirk. "That man is not a muggle."

Nott grinned back as the young man's glaze passed over them and Nott could see a couple of other people eyeing the young man off. Avery sat back in his seat as the man took up a couple of requests before excusing himself from the stage for a smoke break.

Malfoy grabbed Nott's shoulder and the two men weaved their way towards the back of the pub. They found the young man out the back of the bar with a cigarette in his mouth and a beer beside him. The man was slightly turned away from the two death eaters as he sipped on the beer, sitting on a milk crate. Nott and Malfoy shared a look as they moved in on the young man.

Suddenly the man looked over his shoulder with wide green eyes and the two men slowed as they moved towards him.

"Gee, mate." Mal said softly. "You startled me."

"We just had a song request," Malfoy purred, as he moved closer.

"No problem," Mal replied as he sprawled out on the milk crate, the beer dangling between his legs. "What would that be?"

Nott moved closer as Malfoy circled around the young man.

"Know any wizard songs?" Malfoy asked as he came closer.

"A few," Mal replied. "Not sure this crowd would appreciate them."

Suddenly Nott grabbed the man and hauled him to his feet, the man dropped his beer and smoke with a soft cry before Nott could clamp a hand over his mouth. Malfoy moved in quickly and grabbed the man's wrist as he tried to lash out. Wide green eyes flicked between the two men as Nott pushed the man roughly up against the wall with a snarl.

Mal lashed out with his leg but between the two death eaters they had him pinned to the wall and Malfoy leered at him.

"I have a better request," Malfoy hissed as the man's wide eyes flicked between them as he struggled.

Nott pushed his weight into the smaller man and making him hiss in pain as Malfoy reached for his belt. Suddenly the man lashed out with his magic and Malfoy stumbled back in surprise. The man had just enough room to grab a hold of the back of Nott's head and pulled it forward sharply to smash into the wall behind him and Nott fell back onto the ground stunned.

The young man twisted around and lashed out with his fist, which connected with his head and he saw stars before the boy turned on Malfoy. The man's leg connected with Malfoy's stomach and the man dropped to his knees as the man followed it up with a fist to the side of the head and Malfoy went sprawling out on the ground of the alleyway, out cold.

Nott looked up in shock and had just enough time to squeak as the young man grabbed him by the back on the head and smashed him face first into the concrete of the ally before the world spun away from him. Both men out within minutes as the young man stood up straight.

The young man looked down at the two death eaters as he pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes before pulling a glass vial from his pocket and giving Nott a sharp kick until he was resting on his back. He pulled a steel knife from his pocket and nicked the man's skin close to where the gash ran along his face and let a few drops of blood fill the vial before sealing it and getting to his feet with a smirk was he looked down at the crumbled forms of the two death eaters before disappearing with a soft pop.

xXx

Severus looked up as the noise dimmed in the Great Hall to see a young man standing in the doorway of the hall. He frowned as he looked the man over, he looked to be in his early twenties with messy black hair, dark jeans clinging to his legs and a tight grey shirt as he stood casually in the doorway looking around.

Severus sucked in a breath as the boy looked up and green eyes full of amusement locked with his and his eyes widened. The boy gave him a wink as he moved into the hall with graceful steps and headed towards the Gryffindor table as Dracka snorted into his coffee.

"Ha!" The vampire coughed as Albus looked over at the vampire.

"Something you wish to share, Mr Dracka?" Albus asked mildly his eyes twinkling.

Dracka just grinned, his eyes locked on the slim figure and they all turned to watch the young man.

The man made his way toward Potter and his friends and Severus knew the minute that Ry spotted him for Granger squeaked as Ry spat his juice all over the table as he jumped to his feet. The other boy gave him a grin as he moved towards Potter. The two boys could have been brothers as Ry eyed off the other boy.

Ry was a good head and a half taller than the other boy and had more bulk but the shorter man made up for it with the strength that Severus could see in his body as he moved forward with confidence and an air of power around him. There was no doubt the other boy was a wizard.

The boy stopped in front of Potter and held out a vial with a few dark hairs in it and Severus smirked.

"Dad!" Ry squeaked and the hall went quiet as the shorter boy's grin widened.

Blake gave the boy a wink as he held the vial out to Potter in one hand while the other pushed his hair out of his eyes. Potter took the vial from Blake's hand as students started to whisper and his eyes flicked over the other boy before focusing on his father's green eyes.

"Worked a treat," Blake said with a grin. "Even if I had to use a spell or two."

Severus knew it was all an act and he looked the two over, seeing the similarities and yet the differences and wondered, not for the first time, what happened in Blake's childhood to make such marked differences between the two Potters. He was looking at a younger version of his lover and not Blake under Polyjuice potion as Blake looked over towards the Head Table. He shivered when he could see a lot of James Potter in the way the man looked now, except for the grin and the dancing green eyes.

Severus snorted as Ry reached over and ruffled his father's hair and Blake growled as it messed it up even more, getting in his eyes.

"Bloody hair," Blake cursed as he pushed it back from his eyes and Ry snorted. "How do you put up with it?"

"You get used to it," Ry replied with a smirk.

"Not in an hour I won't," Blake replied with a grin.

"I don't know, Dad." Ry said with a smirk as he looked him over. "I have potions first thing this morning, feel up for a class?"

"Ha!" Blake barked a laugh, then leaned in close to Ry and whispered something in his ear which had Ry's face screwing up as he pulled back sharply.

"Ugh!" Ry yelped.

Blake gave his son a pat on the shoulder before moving towards the Head Table, Severus watched him carefully. He could just make out the man's slight limp and knew he had taken a potion to help his leg, but he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking for it, as the man moved towards them.

"Hello, love." Blake purred when he got close to Severus and he shivered.

"Why hello," Dracka purred back with a leer.

Severus turned on the vampire but the man just leered at him and he sighed, bloody vampires.

"And where have you been?" Severus drawled, as he turned back to Blake.

The man just grinned at him and Severus shifted at seeing his lover the way he was. It remined him way too much of both James and Harry Potter and he shivered again.

"Just a night on the town," Blake replied with a wink, as he pushed his hair out of his eyes in frustration. "Singing for my supper and all that."

He placed a few empty vials on the table in front of Severus and a vial of what looked like blood in front of Albus. The headmaster picked it up in interest.

"Blood wards," Blake said, with a smirk. "Easy as."

Albus's eyes widened as they shot to Blake and the man grinned at him. The old green eyes and the dark twist of his lips looking wrong on such a young face.

"Feel peckish, Dracka?" Blake asked as he turned to the vampire.

Dracka shot to his feet and was around the table before Severus could grab him and Blake gave him an amused smile. It was very disconcerting to see his lover this way as Dracka fell into step with Blake as they moved towards the doors of the Great Hall. Dracka swung an arm around the shorter man's shoulders as he pulled him close as he whispered something in his ear and Severus gritted his teeth.

"Hmm," Minerva hummed, as her lips thinned.

Severus snorted as Dracka's hand strayed lower and Blake's fist lashed out hitting the vampire solidly in the side, before he could grab the other man's ass. Dracka folded over with a yelp as he held his ribs as more than a few students giggled.

"Mr Sun," Albus called out and Blake turned back to the man, his green eyes peering out from under his shaggy hair.

"Yes, Albus?"

"My Defence teacher has classes to attend to," Albus said calmly as he looked over the top of his half-moon glasses at the man. "It is only eight in the morning."

"So, it is," Blake replied with a smirk. "Lost track of time. I'll just have to pick him up after dinner. He looks broken anyway."

Blake turned and with a swagger to his steps, left a gasping Dracka in the hall, as he walked out of the door. Severus looked after the man in amusement as Dracka made his way back towards him holding his ribs.

"Bloody tease," Dracka hissed, as he got close and Severus gave him a smirk.

"You are lucky you didn't get worse, Mr Dracka!" Minerva hissed towards the man, as she flicked her eyes towards Severus.

Severus gave the woman a smirk as Potter moved up to the Head Table, with the students watching him, and placed the empty potion vial on the table in front of Severus. He gave the boy a smirk as he leaned forward and plucked the potion vial from the table and placed it with the rest.

"Was that the only one he gave you?" Severus asked the boy.

"Nope," Ry said with a smirk, very similar to Blake's that Severus shivered.

The boy held up a vial with Polyjuice in it and held it up for Severus, and the Hall, to see. The potions master sighed and held his hand out for the potion, while Minerva's lips thinned even more at the sight of the potion. Potter placed the potion in his hand with a grin and a glint in his eyes.

"Thank you, Potter." Severus drawled and the boy gave him a smirk before stalking back to the Gryffindor table. "Can't keep that bloody man out of my potion's cupboard."

Dracka snorted as he rubbed his ribs in amusement.

"He is a curse breaker, Severus." Albus reminded him, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Don't I know it," Severus drawled as he looked at the potion vials spread out in front of him on the table. "He's also a sneaky bastard."

"Severus!" Minerva yelped.

Severus just sat back in his seat and looked over at the woman mildly before getting to his feet and placing the vials away in his robes.

"Where are you going?" Dracka asked. "Classes start in fifteen minutes."

"Where do you think, vampire?" Severus drawled.

Severus gave the vampire a leer as he made his way out of the hall and towards Blake's rooms. The man wasn't in his main rooms and he frowned before moving through to the bedroom to find him sprawled out on his stomach on the bed under the covers. He smiled softly as he looked down at the man and the shaggy black hair as he moved closer.

He kneeled down on the floor and grabbed the man's shoulder but he was out. He ran his hands through the man's hair feeling how soft it was under his hand. He pushed back the hair and Severus could tell that Blake's spell had worn off as he ran his hand down his neck and could felt the scars under his hand on his shoulder. Blake moved in his sleep and curled up on his side and he smiled. He left the man sleeping as he headed to his first class.

Severus was very happy when his last class of the day walked out of his classroom door and he could make his way to Blake's rooms with a slight skip to his step. He opened Blake's door then paused as he spotted a rough looking man with light brown hair standing in the man's kitchen.

"What-" Severus cut himself off as the man turned and he looked into Blake's green eyes. "Have brown hair?"

Blake snorted as he moved into the main part of his rooms with a coffee in his hand as Severus looked him over. He was in a rough pair of jeans, shirt and denim jacket that had seen better days and the brown hair. It looked like Blake had dyed it that colour and he couldn't feel any magic around him as the man gave him a wink. He felt and looked like a homeless muggle and he wasn't sure if that was an improvement on his Harry Potter look.

"You looked a lot more like James, when he was at school, than Ry with that spell you used before," Severus said softly as he looked his lover over.

"Did I?" Blake asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Severus drawled, then smirked. "You just needed a cruel look on your face, shouting insults and with Black backing you up to complete the picture."

"So, the look you get when you have to teach seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin class?" Blake asked with a smirk.

Severus gave him a glare as he looked him over.

"What happened when you were younger to change the way you look so much from Potter?" Severus asked softly.

Blake stilled completely and his face closed off and Severus wished he could take the words back as the man looked at him with unreadable green eyes.

"Maybe you should be asking what kind of life did I give Harry Potter," Blake said softly. "That made him look so much different to me."

Severus looked him over as Blake looked back at him calmly.

"Half-blood prince," Blake said suddenly and Severus sucked in a breath as his eyes widened.

"How…" Severus started to say then stopped himself.

Blake gave him a look that spoke volumes, of a shared childhood of pain. Blake's lips quirked up and he placed another potion vial on the table between them and Severus's eye was drawn to it. He picked it up, unplugged it and took a sniff.

"You won't be able to keep taking these," Severus warned.

"I'm thinking two more doses," Blake replied mildly. "I should be right for a few days without it, while I scope out the Nott house."

Severus looked down his nose at the man.

"Your hair is a mess," Severus drawled.

"Good," Blake replied and rubbed both hands over his head until his hair stuck up in all directions. "Better?"

Severus sneered as he looked down at the light brown mess and over the worn clothing.

"Going out?" Severus asked softly, he hadn't seen much of the man the last few days as he worked on Albus's mission. "Or is it a night in tonight?"

"Funny," Blake replied. "I'm taking the vampire with me to help scope out this house. Just hoping the Dark Lord doesn't show up."

Severus felt a bolt of fear run through him at the thought.

"He won't be able to sense me," Blake continued. "But he might pick up on Dracka's power."

"Why are you taking the vampire then?" Severus asked as he moved to the kitchen to make his own coffee.

"I made coffee, it's on the counter." Blake called after him. "I need him to track a couple of the death eaters, while I stay out the front of the house."

"They won't notice you?" Severus asked as he moved back into the room with the coffee.

"Not if I do my job right," Blake said with a smirk.

Severus smirked and picked up a pair of scissors and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Go for it," Blake replied with a smirk. "Make it look very messy."

xXx

Harry pulled his thin coat around him tightly as the night grew colder as he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered slightly. He grabbed out a worn and dirty blanket and quickly wrapped it around his shoulders as he huddled down.

"Thank you," He muttered, as a passing woman dropped a gold coin on the rough cardboard sign he had written in front of him with the other coins as he pulled the blanket tighter.

He had found a doorway of a closed shop and had set up there with a good view of the large house across the street. He's been there for a good couple of hours as the time ticked away slowly and the night got colder around him. He'd sent Dracka off after a brown-haired man, that he didn't know, who had left the house about fifteen minutes ago and was wondering where the vampire had gotten to.

Harry thanked another person as a coin fell and he quickly gathered up them up as he huddled down in the blanket and waited.

"Don't you look a sight," A voice sneered near him and Harry looked up at Dracka.

"Sorry, sir." Harry said softly. "Any coin for a man down on his luck?"

Dracka crouched down next to him and slightly to the side as if he was counselling him as the vampire looked him over.

"That man lead me three streets over to a house on the corner," Dracka whispered. "There are no wards there that I can pick up, they may be using it as a staging point for the Floo or apparation."

"Very good," Harry replied. "Can you get me a coffee? It's bloody cold."

Dracka gave him a leer before pulling himself to his feet.

"Well, if you aren't going to take any help." Dracka sneered down at him and Harry pulled the blanket closer around him before Dracka stalked away.

They spent the next three hours watching and tracking people away from and to the property until Harry was shivering slightly in the cold and he could see his breath on the air. Dracka looked down at him with concern in his dark eyes.

"Right there?" Dracka asked.

"Yeah, all good." Harry replied. "Why don't you head back to the school? It looks like it's getting quiet."

Dracka crouched down next to him, shoulder to shoulder. The streets were mostly deserted now since it was heading towards midnight and Harry had moved further into the doorway to get away from the wind and off the street slightly. Harry shifted over so that Dracka had more room beside him and Dracka tugged the blanket around him as they looked over at the house.

"What does Albus plan to do?" Dracka asked.

"I'm not sure," Harry replied, as he shivered slightly. "He wanted me to plant listening devices but I suggested to just raid the house. It's up to him what he does."

Dracka didn't give off any body heat, but he could take in Harry's heat which would help warm the other man up as he sat next to him and he didn't mind the company.

"Will you be able to plant anything?" Dracka asked.

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "There are just too many people coming and going. Getting into the house wouldn't be too much of a problem, it would be getting out."

Dracka cocked his head to the side when a woman moved out of the house and towards the front gate. Harry looked over and took a mental image for Severus to look at later since the man would have a better idea of who she was.

"Do you want me to follow her?" Dracka asked softly.

Harry suddenly stiffened next to him as Dracka tensed.

"The Dark Lord is here," Harry said softly. "Get far enough away and go back to the school."

Dracka quickly patted his shoulder and slipped away into the night as Harry felt the dark power of Voldemort before he saw the man walking towards the house as he huddled down further in the blanket and pushed his magic down as much as he could. It was going to be a long night as lights came on in the house.

xXx

Severus started awake when someone opened the door and he glanced over to see Dracka standing in the doorway and he tensed.

"Why are you here?" Severus asked, as he looked over at the clock on the bedside table.

"Blake sent me back," Dracka said softly. "The Dark Lord arrived."

Severus cursed as he sat up and Dracka leered at his bare chest.

"Get out!" Severus snapped and the vampire chuckled as he moved out of the room. "Go wake the Headmaster."

"Why?" Dracka called back, as Severus dressed quickly in a shirt and pants.

"Won't he want to know?" Severus questioned, with a frown. "Where is Blake?"

"Still there," Dracka replied and Severus stilled.

"Why didn't he leave as well?"

"He'll be fine," Dracka said mildly, as he sprawled out on one of the chairs at the dining table. "If he isn't back in the morning, we can go looking for him."

"Then why did you wake me?" Severus snapped.

"Wanted to know if you sleep naked, like Blake does." Dracka said with a leer and Severus groaned and held his head in his hands.

"Bloody vampires," Severus cursed.


	8. Chapter Twenty Four

Harry shivered again as the night worn on and the temperature dropped as a light rain started to fall, only one light was on in the house now but Harry could still feel the dark power of Voldemort so he knew the man was still there and he cursed. Dawn was only a couple of hours away as the rain started to increase and he pulled further back into the doorway to give himself more shelter.

Movement at the front door of the house caught his attention and he pulled a beanie from behind him and pulled it down onto his head and over his cold ears as Voldemort moved out onto the front porch with Malfoy by the man's side. He was struck again by how human this Voldemort was as the man turned and moved off toward the front gate of the house and Harry curled up in the doorway, with the blanket around him and slitted his eyes to watch the man.

Voldemort moved down the street, going the same way as all the others before him had gone and Harry watched him until he turned the corner and he looked back up at the house to see Malfoy looking out into the night before turning to move back inside, a few minutes later the last light went off in the house and Harry closed his eyes and followed the dark pull of Voldemort's power with his mind until the man apparated away.

xXx

Albus looked up when he felt a portkey active in the stone room next to his office just before lunch and frowned as Blake came through the door looking very rough.

"Blake?" Albus questioned as he moved to his feet and looked the man over in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Blake said, as he moved stiffly into the room, limping heavily without his cane as he moved to the chair and sat with a sigh.

The man's normally black hair was a light brown and a mess as well as his clothes, which were slightly ripped in places. He met the other man's tired green eyes, the slight hair on his face, making him look older. The man gave him a grin and leaned forward to place a file on the table.

"Pictures from my memories," Blake explained and sat back in his seat as he pulled his left leg up onto the chair and wrapped his arms around it. "Severus might know who they are. The Dark Lord arrived at the house at just past midnight last night and stayed for a few hours. Dracka believes they are using a house a few streets away as a staging point. He should be able to show you on a map where that is."

Blake suddenly sneezed and Albus frowned.

"Are you sick?" Albus asked softly.

"No," Blake replied and nicked a tissue off his desk. "I doubt I will be able to plant any devices in the house. It would be worth the raid, with so many death eaters there."

Albus sat back in his seat and looked the man over.

"Would you be able to back us up?" Albus asked softly.

"With the wards?" Blake asked softly, sitting back in his seat. "Or with the fighting?"

"Both," Albus replied.

"When?"

"Within the next couple of days?" Albus replied. "I've been talking to Kinsley."

"Then yes," Blake agreed.

"Thank you, my boy." Albus said, with a smile. "I'll let you know when."

"Very well," Blake answered and he pulled himself to his feet.

"That was a nice stunt in the great hall," Albus said in amusement.

Blake gave him a grin with a glint in his eyes.

"I'll need that vial of blood to bring down the blood wards," Blake said, as he limped towards the stone room and Albus winched at the sight.

Blake flashed him a grin over his shoulder before stepping into the stone room then popped his head back into the office.

"Just give me a call when you work it all out," Blake said.

"You're not staying here?" Albus asked with a frown.

"Ah, no." Blake said. "I have something I need to do."

"Try and get some sleep as well," Albus said with a smile.

"I'll try," Blake said with a grin and Albus felt him apparate away.

Albus turned back to the file and pulled his phone close to call Severus. Thinking how life was so much easier and yet harder with Blake Sun around.

xXx

Severus frowned as he looked at Blake's bag and the box on his dining table, he peered into the box to see small glass balls. He hesitantly reached in and pulled out one of the balls and held it up to the light. It fit in his palm comfortably as he looked at it. He could see flashes of different coloured lights sparking inside the glass sphere. He placed it back in the box and picked up another one that just had swirling dark mists in it.

"Don't drop that."

Severus started and looked over to see Blake leaning in the doorway of his bedroom in just jeans and no shirt. His hair was still a light brown in colour but he had cut it to his normal shortness which was off set by the dark hair covering his cheeks and chin but he didn't look at bad as he did before. Severus's sharp eyes could see the man was tired and was keeping his weight off his bad leg as he leaned in the doorway.

"What are they?" Severus asked, as he placed the glass ball gently back into the box.

"Two words," Blake said with a grin. "Weasley twins."

Severus stepped sharply back from the table and Blake barked a laugh as he limped towards the table. Severus watched him carefully as his eyes ran over his chest and frowned when he saw a slight shiver pass over him. He picked up the man's jacket and held it out and Blake flashed him a grin before pulling it on.

"How did you go with the photos?" Blake asked as he took a seat at the table.

"Very well," Severus said with a smirk. "Albus wants to move on the Nott house on Friday night."

"Okay, I'll give Kingsley a call." Blake replied, he picked a glass ball out of the box and looked it over. "I'll be in place Friday morning. It will give me a chance to work on the wards. Blood wards are always tricky."

Severus frowned at his lover and Blake glanced over at him. Severus moved closer and Blake replaced the glass ball in the box. He stopped in front of the man and placed his hand on the man's shoulder.

"You're cold," Severus said softly, in concern with a frown.

Severus ran his hand under the man's jacket and could feel the coldness to his skin.

"Am I?" Blake asked softly.

"Come on," Severus said softly and pulled the other man to his feet.

Blake stumbled slightly as he got his feet under him and Severus frown deepened. He ran his hands around the man's waist and could feel the coldness under his hands.

"How many days did you take that potion?" Severus asked as he pulled the man close.

"Um, four days?" Blake replied. "That should have been fine, it takes six days for the build-up of bloodwood to start having an effect."

"Your cold skin says different," Severus muttered.

"I did spend last night outside," Blake said in amusement and looked up at him.

"That wouldn't have helped," Severus drawled as he stepped the man back towards the bedroom.

Blake suddenly shivered and Severus looked down at him, he moved his hands up to the man's face and cupped his cheeks and his eyes slipped closed as he wrapped his arms around the taller man. Severus gave him a soft smile as he ran his thumbs over his cheeks before leaning forward and giving him a kiss.

Blake relaxed in his arms and kissed him back. Severus backed them up to the bed and ran his hands down the man's shoulders as he slipped his jacket off. Blake grinned up at him and unbuckled his belt and let his pants fall. He wasn't wearing anything under his jeans as he grinned up at Severus.

"Into bed with you," Severus purred and a shiver ran down the man's body as his eyes darkened.

Severus slipped out of his robes, shirt and pants as Blake slipped under the covers of the bed and watched him. Severus shifted slightly with the man's eyes on him and Blake gave him a grin. Severus slipped into bed next to him and pulled him into his arms, the man still felt cold and he pulled him closer. He knew it was a by-product of the bloodwood, that he would have used in his potion, but that didn't stop his concern as Blake shivered.

"I'll look over your notebook tomorrow," Severus whispered into his ear. "See if we can use something besides bloodwood or something else to negate the effect."

"It's in my office," Blake replied sleepily.

"Any other side effects?"

"Don't think so," Blake replied as he curled into him and Severus pulled him closer.

"I saw the nice scrape on Nott's face in the photos," Severus murmured and the man huffed a laugh. "Was that your handiwork?"

"Possibly," Blake said, but Severus could hear the amusement in his voice.

"The Headmaster has been very impressed with your work."

"Don't know why," Blake replied mildly. "I cause enough trouble around here, I'm just expanding it outside the castle."

Severus huffed a laugh and tangled his legs with the other man as he started to warm up and the shivers subsided. It was early for him to go to bed but as he held Blake he drifted off curled up around him. He'd missed the man over the last few days.

xXx

A light drift of rain fell on Friday night as Harry huddled in his rain coat a little further down the street from where he had been two nights before. He'd charmed piece of paper next to him with another one that the Headmaster had and he had been writing in the number of people coming and going all day. If he knew their names, or could pick up the dark mark, he'd written that down as well. so far, the Dark Lord hadn't made an appearance, if the man had, the raid would be called off.

This was just a strike on the man's forces, after his big intake of death eaters over two months ago. Harry wrote down another name as he watched the house. He was down an alley next to a couple of bins and the smell was starting to give him a headache but it gave him a good view of, not only the house, but the way that the death eaters seemed to be coming from the staging point that Dracka had found.

_'Moving in one hour_ ,' Came up on the paper beside Harry, in the Headmaster's curling script.

_'Do you want me to block the staging point, or work on the wards first?_ ' Harry wrote back. _'I've already picked up the blood wards, just have to pick up the rest_.'

' _Block the staging point when we arrive,'_ Albus wrote. ' _Then move back to us to bring down the wards.'_

_'Right boss,'_ Harry wrote, with a smirk. ' _It's raining here, by the way.'_

Albus didn't write anything back as the rain increased and Harry flicked up the hood of his coat and pulled it tighter around him, but it didn't stop all the rain from getting in and he shivered slightly as water ran down his back. When it was close to an hour the piece of paper wiggled in his hand.

_'Ten minutes_.' Albus had written.

Harry bundled up the blanket and other things he had been using and shoved them close to the bin as he picked up his cane and limped down the street, as people made room for him. He had given half of the glass balls to Severus and he had the other half in his pocket ready, as he weaved through the crowds muttering to himself to give him more room.

He made it to the house that Dracka had shown him and moved around to the back.  Once he was out of sight, he crouched down next to the back door and place his hand on the door but couldn't feel any wards so quickly picked the lock as he cast his mind out to see if he could pick up anyone in the house. He didn't touch on anyone, so he pushed into the house as he kept an eye out. Eyes from the portraits in the hallway turned in his direction and Harry kept his hood up as he moved into the house and towards the fireplace.

"Who are you?" A voice demanded.

Harry turned slightly, keeping his face in the shadows of the hood, a portrait of a young woman looking at him from above the fireplace.

"What's the password?" The woman demanded.

Harry sent a slight bit of magic towards the portrait, just enough to hold the woman in that frame but not enough for her to notice as he knelt in front of the fire.

"Just need to make a call," Harry replied mildly, as he grabbed some floo powder.

"You can't use this fireplace for that!" The woman snapped.

"I will tonight," Harry replied, as he threw the powder into the fireplace and just as it made a connection he pulled the link and snapped the connection between the fireplace and the floo network.

This is why he didn't trust the floo network, as the connection slipped from his hands easily, happy to be free as the green light in the fireplace winked out, leaving it dark. Harry flicked his wand and a fire sprung up again and he threw the powder into it, as if frustrated.

"Damn thing's broken!" Harry snapped as he looked at the flames.

"It was fine ten minutes ago!" The woman snapped back.

"Well, look!" Harry cried and threw another handful of powder into the flames. "Diagon Alley!"

Nothing happened and Harry turned on his heels with a curse.

"Where are you going!" The woman yelled.

"To yell at Nott," Harry threw over his shoulder as he moved through the house, to the front door.

Harry slipped out the front door and paused briefly to pull up a anti apparation ward on the house and a five-metre radius around it, before moving down the street. The rain had eased off and was coming down in a fine spray as people moved around him on a busy Friday night. He weaved through everyone as he leaned heavily into his cane and held his other arm around his ribs and disappeared into the crowd.

He spotted Remus first as he moved along, the man's dark curse standing out to Harry and he walked straight passed the man. He noticed Remus tilt his head up slightly as he picked up his scent but couldn't pick him out of the crowd and the man melted away, to report to Kingsley.

Harry palmed the vial of blood in his hand under his coat and slipped the stopper off, he paused briefly to nick his hand and tip a drop of Nott's blood on his palm, over the cut, and his face screwed up in disgust. He was glad that his magic would burn away anything the death eater might have had in his blood as Harry placed the vial back away in his coat as he moved towards the front gate of the house. The last thing he wanted was some kind of disease from the man.

Harry whispered a spell under his breath as he reached the wards of the house and carefully picked them up as people moved away from him as he muttered the spell a little louder until he had a bit of space around him.

An old woman gave him a look as Harry stopped on the sidewalk but the cane and Harry's muttering had her looking away quickly.

"Hey!" Harry called and moved towards a man, who looked around. "Hey you! Did you see them!"

"Um," The man muttered and looked around for help as people moved away from them.

"You saw them!" Harry called out, as he picked up the wards, gathering them all up as he moved. He stumbled closer to the man and the front gate of the house.

"Sorry, mate." The man replied.

"Yeah! They just picked him up!" Harry said louder and people started to back away from them. "They were pink! You saw them! I know you did!"

Harry suddenly let his cane go and grabbed the man's shirt in one hand and the man yelped and pushed him back into the front fence of the house behind him. Harry released him as he stumbled back.

"Don't touch me!" The man yelped as Harry fell into the fence and grabbed the front gate with his bloody hand as the other man ran off down the street.

He picked up the wards quickly in his bloody hand as he slid down the fence and started to mutter the spells under his breath as people gave him a wide berth. A woman picked up his cane and moved it closer to him and Harry nodded in thanks before the woman moved away quickly. He bypassed the blood wards easily and picked up the rest and broke through what he could without alerting Nott until he held all of the wards in his hands.

He stood suddenly and pushed the front gate open, his blood and Notts leaving a smear on the gate, before moving through it and onto the grounds. He moved up the front lawn, with his cane in his hand as he pulled the paper from his pocket. He stepped up onto the front porch and placed his cane against the stone wall before limping towards the front door, making sure that his hood was up.

He pulled the paper out of his pocket with a pen.

_'Wards down soon, be ready_.' Harry quickly wrote.

He tucked the paper away and palmed one of the glass balls he had in his pocket before knocking loudly on the door. The death eater that answered was only young, maybe a couple of years out of school and Harry was glad he didn't know him.

"Password?" The young man asked, in a bored tone.

"What is this?" Harry demanded. "I've walked passed the wards! That means I was invited!"

"Sorry, sir." The boy said quickly as his eyes darted around. "Everyone has to give the password."

"Bah!" Harry yelled loudly. "And if I was the Dark Lord!"

The young man paled and his eyes grew wide, Harry could hear noise coming towards him from inside the house.

"Nott!" Harry yelled. "This idiot wants a password! What are you running here!"

The young man paled even more and started to look around for help as a few other people made their way towards them.

"Please," The young man pleaded. "Just give me the password."

"He didn't tell me!" Harry growled, as he moved closer. "Now let me in!"

"Yes, sir." The young man cowered. "Come in."

Harry grabbed the permission and tied it into the wards he held with a grin. He then threw the glass ball into the house and ducked to the side of the door. Loud noises like gun shots split the air as coloured lights lit up the house from within, as Harry ducked down beside the front door and could see Aurors and Order members flooding through the front gates.

Harry moved in a crouch along the wall as shouting started up in the house and made it to the first window. He placed his wand to the window and broke the glass before throwing in another glass ball and more loud bangs and coloured lights flared up as the shouting increased. He had to get to the fireplace now and cut the floo, if it was connected.

He quickly moved around the house to the back door as Aurors moved in on the front of the house and a few broke off and moved in his direction.

"Stop!" An Auror yelled at him and Harry ducked as a spell flew towards him and he quickly slipped the hood back for the Aurors to see him. "Stop dressing like the enemy, Sun!"

Harry grinned over to the man and pulled his hood back up as he reached the back door with the three members of the Auror team behind him. He quickly grabbed the door handle and gave it a flick before ducking down and pushing the door open as he crouched to the side, watching as spells spun passed him from the open dorrway.

He palmed a glass ball and touched his wand to it before getting low and carefully rolling it into the room. He held up his hand for the Auror team to see as he counted down in his head.

Three, two, one.

He held his hand as a fist as cursing started up in the room and the spells stopped as dark mists started to roll out the door. Harry got down low and slipped into the room as the Aurors started shooting spells over his head.

"Aurors! Stop!" One of the men yelled as Harry quickly moved across the floor pulling his magic sight forward so he could see through the dark mists filling the room.

He pulled another glass ball, his last one, and broke it and more dark mists filled the room. He heard one of the glass balls going off from somewhere else in the house and knew that Severus was working from that side as he kept close to the ground as spells spun above his head. He pulled on his dark magic to coat his skin in a slight shield but he was close enough to the ground for the spells to miss him for the moment.

He quickly found the fireplace in a large hall and flicked his wand to start a fire as he brought up a protection charm behind him and spells smashed into it as the fire flared, giving away his position. He grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the flames and they jumped up green and he harshly grabbed the connection and snapped it.

"Get back!" A voice ordered and Harry flicked his head around.

He rolled to the side as someone slashed through his charm with a silver sword and he stood quickly to face the man. Avery Nott stood before him with his sword in his hand and a nice gash down the side of his face. Harry pushed his hood back with a grin as he stood calmly before the man.

"You!" Nott snarled as he looked at Harry. "Blake Sun!"

"That's me," Harry confirmed, as noise swirled around them.

Suddenly Nott brought up a ward around the room they were in and Harry glanced around. They were alone in the large room and Harry slowly moved away from the fireplace as the other man tracked him. He was trapped, unless he could bring down the ward that Nott had just flared, but that would take time. He would have been in trouble if he hadn't broken through the floo, as he eyed off Nott. The two men were alone for now.

"I am a master swordsman, Sun!" Nott hissed. "And the Dark Lord has a nice bounty on your head."

"I feel flattered," Harry replied mildly. "I was starting to think he didn't care."

Nott sneered and flicked his sword out and Harry stepped back as another one of the glass balls went off somewhere in the house.

"I don't know why he would bother with a cripple anyway," Nott snarled as he looked Harry over.

"I agree," Harry said with a smirk. "How about you surrender now and I'll send him a nice letter asking him that?"

Nott laughed coldly as his eyes flicked over to one of the doorways where two Aurors looked in on them.

"Blood wards," Harry called out. "I've got this."

Nott laughed as the Aurors moved off and he swung his sword towards Harry's head and he grinned as he flicked his wrist and brought his silver sword up to bare and Nott's eyes widened.

"Or better yet," Harry hissed, as he flicked his sword out and Nott skipped back. "I send him your head, instead?"

Nott's eyes widened even more as Harry pushed forward and their swords rang out in the room adding to the noise in the house. Harry skipped back and flicked his sword around as he tried to knock Nott off balance but the man had skills and had Harry at a disadvantage as his leg slowed him down. Nott grinned as he picked up on that and kept swinging for his right-side forcing Harry to move his sword to his left to give him better protection and the man laughed.

Harry moved quickly to the left as he flicked his sword up and they clashed as Nott flicked out with a steel knife in his other hand and Harry flinched to the side as the knife flashed across his ribs. He kicked out with his leg to drive the man back. Nott barred his teeth at him, holding the knife in one hand and the sword in the other as Harry panted.

Harry darted in swinging and the man brought his sword up quickly and Harry twisted to the side as the knife flashed out and he grabbed the man's wrist. He pulled and twisted his wrist and Nott yelped as the knife clattered to the floor as he brought the hilt of his sword around and smashed it into Harry's side. Harry gasped as he skipped back and flicked his sword out forcing Nott back. They were at a stand-off as the two men eyed each other off.

Harry had the greater skill but his leg was slowing him down. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a potion and Nott eyed him off.

"Can't you give me a fair fight?" Nott yelled out, as he flicked his sword out before Harry could take the potion. "You are meant to be on the light side!"

"Ha!" Harry barked as he kept moving. "I'm a Dark Wizard Nott! Playing by the rules isn't in my play book."

A loud boom shook the room and Harry was moving fast as he flicked his sword out while Nott was distracted and pushed the man's sword to the side as he smashed into him, pushing him to the ground. He pulled his dark magic around him and lashed out with a fist but Nott moved at the last moment and Harry cursed as his fist hit the floor. Nott smirked and brought a knee up and Harry twisted to the side as his sword fell back into his hand and he cut through the spell the man sent his way.

They both scrambled to their feet warily. Harry let his dark power crackle over his skin as he held the potion up for Nott to see. The man cursed and surged forward as Harry brought the potion to his lips, before skipping to the side and slipping the potion away as he grabbed his sword in his right and surged forward to meet Nott. Moving as fast as he could, magic adding to his speed.

The two men clashed together hilt to hilt and Harry pushed magic into his body as he pushed the taller man back before pushing the two swords to the side and dismissing his blade as he grabbed Nott's wrists and pulled sharply. He brought a knee up sharply into the man's stomach as he pulled, unbalancing him and bringing him down to the floor hard.

He lashed out with a fist which copped Nott on the side of the head stunning him and he quickly had him rolling onto his back. Harry planted a knee into the middle of his back as he grabbed his arms and twisted them harshly behind his back causing the man to cry out.

The man struggled briefly and Harry increased his weight on his knee until the man stilled with a gasp of pain as they both panted, before Nott chuckled.

"Nice show, Sun." The man panted. "But we'll be back out in no time."

"What?" Harry whispered close to his ear, as he leaned over the man. "Do you think you are heading to Azkaban?"

The man tensed under him.

"I have better plans for you lot," Harry hissed. "There is no Azkaban in your future, Nott."

"I would have won that fight, if it weren't for that potion!" Nott snarled.

Harry grabbed the man's wrists in one hand, his grip like steel, and slipped his other hand into his pocket and pulled the full potion vial out.

"This one?" Harry asked sweetly, as he held the potion out for the man to see.

Nott snarled and struggled as Harry leaned into his knee and the man gasped going slack again and slipped the potion back into his pocket.

"Finished playing with your toy, Blake?"

Harry looked over to see four Aurors and Severus, looking at him with a smirk on his face, in the doorway being held back by the wards.

"Almost," Harry replied and grabbed the back of Nott's head and with a sharp crack, Nott went limp under him while the Aurors winched at the sound. "Done now."

Harry pulled his silver knife from his pocket and sliced into his right hand and wiped it over Nott's blood on the ground before getting to his feet and summoning his sword to his left hand to use as a cane as he moved towards the doorway, Severus and the Aurors were waiting at. He reached up with his bloody hand and grabbed the blood ward Nott had thrown up adding it to the other wards he held and harshly ripped through them, except the apparation and portkey wards, and caught the backlash of magic and channelled it into the ground at his feet as he panted slightly.

"Proceed," Harry said with a grin once he was done and stepped to the side.

The Aurors gave him wary looks but they knew how he worked by now as Harry smirked at them.

"Kingsley knows where to take them," Harry called over to Aurors while Severus looked him over as Harry leaned into his sword.

"Right there, Snape?" Harry asked, the man was standing stiffly.

"About the same as you," Severus replied. "You have a bit of blood on your forehead."

Harry gave him a lopsided grin, then looked at the blood on his hands and grimaced.

"Ah," Harry replied. "I'm going to have to find a hose."

Severus gave him a smirk, then Harry felt dark magic and his eyes flicked towards the east.

"Everyone out!" Harry barked. "Call the order! Grab the prisoners and retreat!"

The Aurors looked up and quickly grabbed Nott as Harry moved after them with Severus behind him. He pulled his phone out and dialled Kingsley's number but it rang out and he cursed. He grabbed Severus's arm and pulled the man back.

"I'm going to key you to the apparation wards," Harry said quickly as they moved towards the back door.

"What do you have in mind?" Severus asked. "Is it the Dark Lord?"

"Not sure, feels dark enough." Harry replied. "Do you have any more of those glass balls?"

"No," Severus replied.

Harry pushed the man's left sleeve up as a few Aurors moved around them and out the door pulling death eaters as they left. Harry placed his hand on the man's skin and keyed him to the apparation ward.

"Apparate to the Weasleys' shop and ask them for box three," Harry said softly. "Then apparate back here."

"Blake?" Severus said softly.

"Go," Harry replied.

Severus eyed him off for a second before apparating away, a couple of Aurors started at the soft pop. Harry hurried through the door and out onto the front lawn and looked out towards where he could feel the dark power coming from.

"Kingsley!" Harry yelled out to the tall dark man and he turned towards him.

The man moved towards him as Aurors moved over the wards and apparated away with their prisoners.

 "How long do you need?" Harry asked as the man moved closer.

"Twenty minutes," Kingsley replied. "Is it you-know-who?"

"Not sure," Harry replied. "Feels like it."

Harry flicked his head to his right as the signal moved as the man apparated and he frowned, was the man playing with them? Trying to draw them out?

"I don't want to bring down the apparation and portkey wards or he can just apparate straight in." Harry said quickly, then frowned as the signal moved again. "Call me when you are clear."

Kingsley eyed him over, seeing the blood on his face and hands.

"Are you okay?" Kingsley asked.

"Sure," Harry replied with a grin. "Off you go."

"What are you planning, Blake?"

"Big bag," Harry replied with a lopsided grin and Kingsley shivered. "Get your men clear as quickly as you can."

"Take care," Kingsley muttered and moved away.

Harry watched after the man for a moment before he felt Severus apparated back in.

"Severus!" Harry called back into the house. "I'll meet you on the front porch."

Harry moved over to a hose on the side of the house and quickly washed as much of the blood off his hands and face as he waited for Severus to appear. He watched the Aurors working until Kingsley gave him a wave and held up his hands with his fingers out. Ten minutes was the signal and he held a fist up in reply. Harry stood and moved back towards the front porch of the house.

Severus appeared with the box in his hands and he shoved the box towards Harry with a smirk. Harry placed it just inside the front door and pulled out his wand and tapped the box quickly, creating a link between it and his wand.

Harry pulled his dark wand in his other hand and dark figures appeared in the house behind them before he grabbed Severus's arm and apparated them to the alley he had used before. Severus held him as his head spun and he stumbled into the wall.

"Blake!"

Harry shook his head slightly as his vision greyed slightly and he frowned. Severus suddenly cursed and Harry looked over at him.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Your side," Severus hissed.

Harry looked down at where Nott's knife had gotten him and the blood soaking into his shirt as the pain soaked into his mind slowly but he pushed it to the side harshly. He would deal with it later.

"We don't have time," Harry snapped as Severus pulled a bandage from his jacket pocket. "Leave it. Keep a look out."

Harry slid down the wall and focused his mind, trusting Severus as he tuned out the alley and followed the dark signal, with a whisper he had a small ball of dark magic spinning in front of him and he felt the Dark Lord move towards their position.

He sent the small ball of magic moving towards the house as if they were running with the Dark Lord following it.

"He has over a dozen of followers with him," Harry whispered. "Probably more experienced ones than the ones we took on."

He gently shaped the ball into two shadow people and the Dark Lord and his followers quickened their pace as the shadow people moved into the house with the others following them. Harry grinned and flicked his cherry wand and a large boom rolled over them setting off car alarms as Harry pulled back completely and cut through every ward or charm he held and gasped as the pain flooded into his mind.

Hands on his shoulders shaking him slightly brought him back and he looked up into Severus's dark eyes filled with concern. Harry shook his head slightly and rested it back against the wall behind him.

"You with me?" Severus whispered.

Harry wasn't sure, but nodded his head slightly, once he gathered his thoughts together he cast his mind out but couldn't pick up on the Dark Lord and he sighed. They were safe for now.

"He's gone," Harry whispered and winched as Severus pushed his shirt up to look at the wound.

"Lean forward and I'll bind this up," Severus whispered.

Harry moved forward slightly and Severus ran the bandage around his chest.

"I'm too old for this," Harry muttered. "This is young people's work, not for old men."

Severus snorted and Harry flashed him a grin, then frowned.

"Someone is coming," Harry hissed.

"Hold this," Severus whispered and Harry grabbed the bandage that the man had been working on.

Harry palmed his wand in the other hand as Severus moved to the entrance of the alley and flattened himself against the wall. A man in a dark coat with the hood up stepped around the corner and Severus grabbed him quickly and went to slam him into the wall but the man twisted and had Severus up against the wall, face first, until he saw Harry and his red eyes shone within the hood, and Harry pulled his magic back sharply from the spell he had been crafting.

"Shit," Dracka hissed, as he held Severus pinned to the wall. "Sorry, Severus."

"Then let go," Severus hissed. "And stop moving your bloody hand!"

Dracka leered as he stepped back and moved towards Harry and crouched down in front of him as he slipped his hood back. Harry could start to feel his head swimming from the blood loss as he looked over at Dracka as Severus moved back towards them and knelt down beside the vampire then suddenly smashed his shoulder into Dracka throwing the man off balance and he yelped as he went sprawling from the unexpected attack.

Harry smirked in amusement as Severus finished bandaging up his chest while Dracka cursed at the other man in Dutch.

"I think he made his point," Harry said softly. "Why are you here?"

"Albus called me," Dracka replied.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"It's been over half an hour since you told the Aurors to leave," Dracka replied. "I'm the back-up team."

"Bull!" Harry said softly. "You can sniff me out, like a blood hound."

Dracka flashed his fangs at Harry and he just gave him a grin. He summoned his sword in his hand and pushed up with it and his left leg, but pain shot through his ribs and his vision greyed as two sets of hands grabbed him and lowered him carefully back to the ground as his sword clattered to the ground loudly.

"I'll call Kingsley," Severus said softly. "He can send a medic, are we safe here?"

Harry nodded as he felt sick and let his head rest back against the wall. He felt a cool hand on his forehead as Severus spoke on the phone. Harry drifted slightly before he picked up a couple of other magical signals and opened his eyes to see Kingsley looking down at him.

"Fine my ass," Kinsley snapped, when he saw his eyes open and Harry gave him a grin.

"Broken ribs," A young woman said softly as her magic ran over him and Harry shivered slightly. "Three I would say, good thing it was a steel knife, I can heal this up without a problem."

Harry held out his right hand and the woman took it in hers as she ran he wand over it with a frown on her brow and Harry let his head rest back against the wall as the woman worked. Her light magic brushing against him as she muttered slightly under her breath.

"Blake!"

Harry started slightly and opened his eyes, without realising he had closed them and looked up at Kingsley.

"Wha'" Harry whispered.

"Are you just going to sleep there?" Kingsley asked and Dracka snorted.

"He's already slept there for two nights," Dracka drawled. "What's one more?"

Severus snorted as he looked down at Harry fondly as Kingsley flicked his eyes between the three men and sighed. The mediwitch gave him a smile before getting to her feet.

"Mr Nott is still out cold with a nasty concussion," The woman said. "I'm sure he will be cursing your name tomorrow or the next day when he wakes up."

"I'll also need you to cut through that spell in the dark mark to expose the tattoo," Kingsley added, as his eyes flicked to Severus slightly. "You know where they are."

Harry nodded slightly as he moved his right leg to a more comfortable position.

"Right there, Blake?" Kingsley asked as he looked down at him.

"Been better," Harry replied and the nurse's lips twitched up in a smile.

"Call me tomorrow then," Kinsley stated and gave him a nod before turning on his heel with the nurse following behind him.

Severus and Dracka looked down at him and Harry gave them a lopsided grin, Severus sighed and kneeled down.

"Want a hand up?" Severus asked softly.

Harry nodded and Severus got under his arm and pulled him to his feet and held him as he got his balance. Dracka used a cloth to pick up his sword and held it out but Harry just dismissed it from his hand.

"Head back to the school," Harry told the vampire. "We'll be right behind you."

Dracka gave a sharp nod before stalking away and flicking his hood back up as he moved out onto the street.

"We can apparate from here," Harry said softly and wrapped his arm around Severus's back.

Severus just held him and Harry frowned and looked over at the other man.

"Severus?" Harry asked. "Are you injured? You should have had the nurse look at you."

"It's fine," Severus said softly and Harry pulled back slightly as he looked at the other man.

Harry reached out with his connection and ran his magic over the man and he felt Severus shiver. He reached out a hand and pushed the man's shirt up on his right side to see bruising around his stomach and ribs. He ran his fingers lightly over his ribs.

"Nothing broken," Harry said softly and put more weight on his right leg as he pulled back slightly as he ran his fingers over his side and slipped them lower.

Severus grabbed his hand and pulled it away.

"Do you want me to apparate us?" Harry asked as he frowned.

"No," Severus said softly. "It's fine."

"Was it a spell?" Harry asked as he wiggled lose from the other man and looked him over. "Severus?"

"Let's get back to the school," Severus repeated as he moved in close.

Harry let the man wrap his arm around him, as he wrapped his magic around the two of them, just in case. Then the world spun slightly as they apparated. Harry gasped and stumbled and he could hear someone cursing as his knees hit the ground hard as the world rocked and he couldn't feel Severus near him.

"Severus!"

Hands were on his shoulders as the world kept spinning slightly and he closed his eyes as he started to feel sick.

"Blake!"

Harry started and opened his eyes and glanced over to see Severus sprawled out beside him. Fear bolted through him. He tried to move forward, but his head spun and the hand on his shoulder clamped down hard.

"Just settle down," Dracka snapped.

Poppy moved into view and moved straight to Severus with her wand out. Harry felt his stomach heave and he quickly moved to the side before throwing up as Dracka jumped back with a yelp. He finished throwing up and the energy seemed to leave him as he pushed himself to the side and collapsed.

"Blake!"


	9. Chapter Twenty Five

Severus woke to the pounding in his head and his ribs protesting as he moved slightly. His hand dangled over the side of the bed and he frowned, did Blake take up the bed again? He rolled over and flung his arm out, hissing slightly at the pain. Blake wasn't there.

He blinked open his eyes and looked up at the ceiling and groaned, he was in the hospital wing.

"Good to know other people have the same reaction that I do to this place." Blake said softly from beside him.

Severus looked over to the man sprawled out in the chair next to his bed, the cut on his forehead mostly healed, with a book in his lap.

"You've been out for three days," Blake said softly. "Ry was hoping you would make it four."

"Three days?" Severus asked in confusion.

"Nasty concussion," Blake replied. "Next time, I'm going to apparate us."

"What happened?" Severus asked.

"You tell me," Blake countered. "It was just lucky that some parts of us didn't end up, not with us."

"You're not making sense," Severus snapped.

Blake gave him a grin and Severus noticed how tired the man looked.

"Have you slept?" Severus asked in concern.

"Ah," Blake replied as he ran a hand over his head and Severus could see the way that it shook slightly. "Not much. You, however, have had three days of sleeping. So, should be nice and refreshed to torment your potion students."

"Have you had chocolate?" Severus asked softly.

Blake gave him a lopsided grin and he groaned until Blake's eye flicked up as Poppy slammed her door loudly.

"Mr Sun!" Poppy's voice lashed out in a hiss.

"Not doing anything," Blake said softly and held up the book in his hands. "See, just reading my book and minding my own business. He's awake by the way."

Poppy gasped and hurried over and quickly pulled her wand as Blake sprawled back in his chair and watched her with unreadable green eyes.

"How do you feel Severus?" Poppy asked kindly as she looked down at him. "Do you feel sick or is your head spinning?"

"No," Severus replied. "I'm fine."

Blake snorted and Severus looked over at him but he just looked back mildly, but Severus could pick out the tension in the other man's body.

"Enough out of you, Mr Sun!" Poppy snapped at the man and Severus frowned.

"I'll be leaving then," Blake said and pulled himself to his feet and placed his book on the bedside table. "I'll be back tonight, Severus."

Severus's watched him with sharp eyes and could tell the man was still hurting as he grasped his hand before turning and limping out of the room, his cane tapping softly. He turned to see Poppy watching him with sharp eyes as well.

"You were hit by a spell we haven't seen before," Poppy said softly, drawing his attention back. "Took him a day to work it out while we were all scrambling around. I wanted to send you to St Mungo's but he refused. I called in some healers from St Mungo's to assess you and I was sure he was going to use his sword against one of them. You don't have a next of kin listed and he is your partner but that only went so far…He can be a bit scary when he gets angry, Albus had to come down and remove him. He's refused all medical help since then."

"He doesn't look well," Severus replied.

"No, he doesn't." Poppy snapped, then softened her tone. "He hasn't stopped since you both came back. The stubborn man, if he keeps this up he is going to collapse."

"What was the spell?" Severus asked softly.

"It was attacking your magic," Poppy said quietly. "But it seemed to have a delay in it, it didn't kick in until you apparated to the school, then it started to drain your magic off quickly. You might feel a little weak for a while but your levels are already starting to go up. Blake mentioned it was an adaption from an old Russian spell. He could tell you more since he cast the counter charm."

Poppy ran her wand over him one more time and he could faintly feel her magic settle over him. Severus reached over and snagged the book Blake had been reading off the table but it was written in Russian so he placed it back on the table.

"You are free to go," Poppy said with a small smile. "Blake brought you up some clothes, they are in the bathroom."

"Thank you, Poppy." Severus said quietly.

The woman gave him a small smile before turning and heading back to her office. Severus looked up at the doorway, but Blake wasn't there.

xXx

"Blake."

Harry looked up as Kingsley moved towards him and he gave the man a small smile. He watched as the man's dark eyes looked him over before he gave him a nod and led the way into the building they were using to keep the death eater from the raid a few days before.

"How's Snape?" Kingsley asked softly.

"Awake," Harry replied. "Still not snarky yet, but give him time."

Kingsley bared his teeth in a grin.

"A few of my Aurors have been spreading stories about his fighting and those glass balls that you two had," Kingsley remarked.

"About him fighting on our side, right?" Harry asked with amusement.

"That too," Kingsley said in amusement. "Plus, he did teach some of them. So, I don't think they were expecting that from him."

Harry gave the man an amused smile as they worked their way further into the building and towards the cells. They had brought the building off a muggle that needed to off load it quickly and had out fitted it as a prison easily from the office building it had once been. It stood at five stories but Harry had been working on building underground levels months before the raid happened and he'd worked the wards into the dark mark.

By linking it to the dark mark, anyone that walked over the threshold that had one would be trapped by the wards. It was a one-way spell and very advanced in not only magic but in time as well since the spell hadn't been invented yet. They had a muggle contractor that delivered all the food they needed every day to keep the number of wizards and witches that knew about the prison to a minimum.

Harry and Kingsley surrendered their wands and anything else with a pointy end at the check point. Harry could tell that Kingsley looked uneasy about giving up his wand as Harry just placed them down calmly, without caring. The Auror looked his wands over in interest.

"What is this one made of?" The Auror asked, holding up the elder wand.

"No idea," Harry replied. "Some type of dark wood. The other one is made from cherry wood, with a silver core."

"Silver?" Kingsley asked in interest.

"Yes," Harry replied mildly. "It's better at channelling magic for wards than something else, makes it harder to break as well. The black wand is just temperamental. Feel free to have a play around with it, just watch how much magic you put into the spell. Oh, and it bites."

"You are allowing me to use your wand?" The Auror asked in shock, as Kingsley looked over at the two wands in interest.

"Sure, the black one that is. Don't try the other one." Harry replied. "If it bites you, don't come crying to me. Lead the way Kingsley."

The tall man gave him a grin as they left the stunned Auror behind as they moved into the building's cell area.

"I think you just like to shock people," Kingsley said mildly.

Harry gave the man a lopsided grin.

"I try," Harry said mildly. "I bet there will be about a dozen of them there when we come back."

Harry paused for a second and Kingsley turned to him.

"Do you need a minute?" Kingsley asked in concern.

"Coffee first?" Harry asked and Kingsley barked a laugh.

xXx

Severus looked up when Blake's door opened and the man walked in, with a heavy limp. He looked Blake over as he came into the room and the other man gave him a smile.

"Where have you been?" Severus drawled.

"Prison," Blake replied, with a lopsided grin. "We are still working through the death eaters we arrested and the dark mark is being a pain."

Blake moved to his lounge and collapsed back onto it with a sigh.

"How are you feeling?" Blake asked as he looked over at him.

Severus got to his feet and moved over to Blake and looked down at the man without answering.

"Kingsley said I'm not allowed to bring my black wand to the prison again," Blake said with amusement in his eyes. "His Aurors got into trouble with it."

"They used your wand?" Severus snapped.

"With permission," Blake replied with a glint in his eye.

Severus groaned and rubbed his face before looking back at the man sprawled out over the lounge and Blake gave him a grin that went straight through him.

"It only bit one Auror," Blake said in amusement. "So, it must have been in a happy mood."

"You talk about it like it's alive," Severus said softly.

"Of course," Blake scoffed as he pulled the wand out and held it out to Severus.

Severus took it in his hand feeling the rough wood under his fingers and the power. He had held the wand a few times and it still surprised him, how easily Blake would hand it over without a care as the man looked at his watch.

"I'm going to head to bed until dinner," Blake said as he pulled himself to his feet. "I have a couple of students to teach after that. Have to be back at the prison in the morning, going to get a nice pay check from the Department this month."

Severus watched the man limp towards the bedroom in amusement as he still held the man's wand. Struck again with how little he knew about him. Blake paused at the bedroom door before turning and giving him a grin with intense green eyes.

"Good to see you up, Severus." Blake said softly. "Look after that wand for me, would you?"

Blake gave him a wink before slipping into the bedroom leaving the Slytherin holding the man's wand in his hands, a little unsure about what had just happened.

xXx

Severus woke with a start and frowned unsure what had woken him. He could feel Blake's back resting against his and he tried to relax back. He was just drifting off when Blake muttering something, startling him awake and he wiggled over onto his back with a frown. His ribs and stomach were still tender as he lifted himself up and looked down at the man curled up away from him.

Blake muttered something under his breath with a frown on his brow and Severus laid a hand on his side. Blake flinched slightly at the touch and Severus frowned.

"Blake?" Severus questioned quietly, but the man was out.

The slight light in the room let Severus see the thin line where Nott had cut his skin and the bruising on his side as he pushed the covers back. Blake curled up slightly and Severus ran his hand over his head but that just unsettled the man more, which was unlike him.

Blake muttered something and Severus was sure it wasn't in English as Blake's hand curled into a fist and he moved slightly.

"No," Blake suddenly whispered and his eyes seemed to flick under his lids.

"Blake?" Severus tried again and grabbed his shoulder.

He shook his shoulder slightly but the man didn't wake and Severus frowned. Blake was a very light sleeper and could go from asleep to awake, very fast, unlike anyone he had seen before.

"No, Alissa." Blake whispered, and pushed back against Severus. "Nikolai!"

Severus jolted at the name and paled as Blake muttered a couple of other words he couldn't understand. The man was dreaming of his son.

"Blake," Severus tried again.

Blake pushed back against him and Severus wrapped his arms around the other man when suddenly Blake pulled himself away with a cry and fell from the bed with a crash.

"Blake!"

Severus scrambled across the bed and looked down into puzzled green eyes of the man on the floor in a tangle of the blanket.

"Did I just fall out of bed?" Blake asked, as he looked around puzzled as he ran a hand over his head.

"Evidently," Severus replied in amusement.

"Oh," Blake replied. "Oops."

Blake pulled himself up and Severus winched in sympathy when Blake grimaced as he got his feet under him and Severus pulled the blanket back onto the bed.

"You were having a nightmare," Severus said softly and Blake stilled.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" Blake asked, not getting into the bed.

"What?" Severus said softly. "Why?"

Blake ran a hand over his head, just standing there naked and Severus ran his eyes over the bruising and the way the man stood.

"So, you can sleep," Blake replied, mildly.

Severus frowned as he looked at him, while Blake just looked back with unreadable eyes.

"Okay," Blake said softly. "I'll sleep out on the couch."

"No," Severus snapped and Blake flinched. "Come back to bed."

Blake just stood there looking at him and Severus's frown deepened.

"Hurry up," Severus said softly. "I have classes in the morning."

Blake nodded and moved back under the covers but curled up on the edge of the bed with his back to Severus. He placed his hand on Blake's back and could feel the tense muscles under his hand. He ran his hand down the man's back and wiggled closer until he could wrap himself around him.

Blake relaxed slightly as Severus held him and closed his eyes as sleep over came him. He startled awake when Blake yelled out in his sleep and his hold tightened around his waist.

"Blake?" Severus whispered.

"Sorry," Blake replied softly.

"Sh," Severus said softly and ran a hand down the man's side as he shook slightly.

Blake relaxed slowly and his breathing even out as Severus fell back to sleep. Sometime later Severus woke for the third time and frowned when he wasn't curled up around Blake. He glanced over his shoulder but the man wasn't there and it was about two in the morning.

He pulled himself to his feet and moved to the lounge room. His heart clenched when he found Blake asleep on the lounge, curled up slightly with his arm hanging over the side. The man was short enough that he could stretch out without a problem on the lounge as Severus kneeled down and ran his hand over the man's hair fondly.

Blake was still restless as he ran a hand over his hair a couple of times before using the bathroom. He moved back into the living room and looked down at Blake asleep on the lounge and sighed, before moving back to the bedroom.

xXx

Harry was on his third cup of coffee as he looked out at the students before him, it was still early in the morning and a lot of students hadn't arrived yet for breakfast. He was due at the prison at eight to try and break through the spell on the dark mark so that each of the prisoners could be processed.

"Hey," Severus said softly, as he sat in the seat next to him.

Harry looked over at the man and pushed the coffee pot his way. He could see the man was tired.

"I'll be at the Ministry or the prison all day today," Harry said softly. "I'm hoping to be back in time for dinner, if it runs late, I'll stay at my apartment in London."

Harry noticed Severus's hand pause as he reached for the sugar.

"Kinsley is getting a little frustrated that the spell in the dark mark is being stubborn," Harry said softly. "Not to mention the paperwork. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Blake." Severus said softly.

"No side effects from the spell that hit you?" Harry asked as he looked the man over.

"I am well enough to teach potions," Severus replied mildly, but his eyes were intense as they looked at him.

"I'm sure Ry will be thrilled," Harry replied with a smile.

"Are you okay?" Severus whispered, as he leaned in close to him.

"All good," Harry replied softly, with a smile. "Sorry about last night."

"Oh!" Dracka said as he crashed into his seat on the other side of Harry. "Problems?"

"Nope," Harry said. "Want to come to the Ministry to fill out paperwork?"

Harry smirked as Dracka shivered.

"Well, I'll be off." Harry said as he got to his feet. "Severus, I'll call you if I'm staying in London. Have fun playing with your potions."

Harry gave the man a wink, but Severus just watched him with unreadable black eyes and Harry frowned.

"Leaving, Blake?" Albus asked, moving towards his seat. Drawing away his attention.

"Yeah," Harry said, as he looked over at the Headmaster. "I'll bring you back some files when I get back. Think of it was homework."

"Good luck, my boy." Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Harry gave him a smile before moving away and out of the hall.

xXx

Harry looked up as Simon Giller, the Auror assigned to him today, pulled a young man into the room. He locked the cuffs around the man's wrist on the table top in front of Harry and Kingsley. Harry looked over the young man and he shifted slightly. Simon pulled the young man's left sleeve up and Harry ran his hand down his skin, feeling the edges of the tattoo under his hand but couldn't see it.

"Name?" Kingsley asked blandly.

"Ken Milton," Harry answered for the man. "Was a Hufflepuff, he graduated last year. Hold still Mr Milton."

Harry placed his hand over the dark mark and closed his eyes. He felt the dark magic under his palm and tiredly picked his way through the mark. Picking up where he had left off the day before with a different death eater.

"What are you doing?" Milton asked.

"Breaking the spell in the dark mark to reveal it," Harry replied calmly. "Please hold still and don't say anything."

Harry carefully picked his way through the spells in the mark, looking for the right one. It took him a good half an hour to find what he was looking for and he sighed as he picked up the spell and looked it over to make sure before cutting through it and lifting his hand.

The tattoo stood out on the young man's skin and Kingsley wrote in _'Death eater confirmed'_ on his paperwork. Harry sat back in his seat and look up into the pale face of the young man before him.

Kinsley started his questions as Harry sat back in his seat and would pick up the surface thoughts of the man in front of him to make sure if he was telling the truth or not as Kingsley went through his questions. Harry would silently indicate to Kingsley if he was being truthful or not as the Auror ran through his questions.

Over an hour later, Ken Milton was removed and the next prisoner was brought in and it started all over again.

Harry was exhausted when he finally collapsed on his bed at his London apartment that night, Kinsley wanted him back again the next morning and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

xXx

"Snape," Severus answered his phone as he moved towards the great hall for dinner.

"Come and collect, Blake." Kinsley said calmly and Severus froze.

"What happened?" Severus snapped.

"He collapsed," Kinsley replied. "We had a medic look him over and he is sleeping now."

"Has he woken up?" Severus asked sharply.

"No." Kinsley replied, and Severus could hear something in the man's voice.

"Where are you?" Severus asked.

"At the prison," Kingsley replied. "We locked him into one of the cells, since we don't have a medical bay set up yet. Albus has the address, you might want to bring the vampire. You won't be able to step over the threshold of the main prison."

Severus could feel a coldness in his stomach at those words.

"Why can't I step over the threshold?" Severus asked as he moved towards the Headmaster and Dracka at the Head Table.

"You can, but you won't be able to leave," Kingsley said softly. "The prison wards are tied into the dark mark, Snape."

"I'll be there soon," Severus said and hung up the phone.

"Is there a problem?" Albus asked when he saw him.

"I need the address to the prison." Severus said sharply, after he brought up a silencing charm around them. "Blake collapsed."

Dracka hissed a breath and his eyes turned red as Albus looked at him with wide eyes.

"He what?" Albus said in shock.

"Kingsley just called," Severus replied.

Albus pulled a piece of paper out of his robe and a quill and wrote out the address and apparation point before handing it to Severus, looking pale.

"Come on, Dracka." Severus said, as he nodded at Albus in thanks. "We have to break Blake out of prison."

Albus snorted.

"Always thought we would have to use those words," Dracka said softly. "But I was thinking more of a muggle prison."

Severus turned on his heel, his robes flaring as he marched from the hall with Dracka on his heels. Once they were passed the wards Severus grabbed the vampire and looked down at the piece of paper and apparated.

Severus and Dracka looked around the normal looking muggle neighbourhood and the two men shrugged out of their robes, shrunk them and placed them away. They shared a look before moving out of the alley and onto the busy street as Severus lead them to the address on the piece of paper.

They stopped outside a normal looking five story office building in interest.

"Blake's magic is on the wards," Dracka said softly.

Dracka stepped forward and opened the door for Severus, waving the other man in as Severus smirked. They walked into the nice entrance of the building and the woman behind the desk looked them over with interest. She was dressed like a muggle as she gave them a smile.

"Severus Snape and Rolf Dracka?" The woman asked.

"Yes," Dracka purred, moving closer to the woman with a smile on his face. "And you would be?"

"Auror Milly Sendon," The woman replied.

"So, nice to meet you." Dracka purred and held out a hand.

When the woman took his hand, he kissed her fingers and the woman blushed as Dracka gave her a wink.

"Dracka." Severus growled at the vampire, before turning to the woman. "We are here for Blake Sun."

"Oh!" The woman said as Dracka released her hand. "I'll just call up Auror Shacklebolt for you."

Dracka looked over his shoulder at Severus who scowled at the man as the woman kept eyeing the vampire off.

"Hungry, are you?" Severus hissed.

Dracka's smile widened as his eyes glinted.

"Are you offering, Severus?" Dracka asked as he moved closer to the other man.

Severus drew himself up as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down his nose at the shorter man. Dracka just gave him a leer as Severus glared.

"Snape," Kingsley's voice broke into the stand-off. "Mr Dracka, please follow me. Severus, you can wait here."

The two men looked over at the tall dark-skinned man as he looked them over with dark eyes and a frown on his brow.

"No," Severus snapped, as he moved closer to Kingsley.

"You won't be able to step back over the threshold, Severus." Kingsley whispered softly to the man so that Milly couldn't hear them.

"Yes, I will be able to." Severus drawled. "Now, show us where Blake is."

Kingsley started, as he drew back a step before moving in close to Severus. They were of a similar height as Kingsley grabbed his left arm, where his dark mark used to be.

"The wards are tied to the dark mark," Kinsley hissed.

"Show us where Blake is," Severus hissed back.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Milly asked from her desk.

Dracka moved towards the woman's desk with a sly smile.

"Nothing to worry about, my dear." Dracka cooed.

Severus moved his body slightly and Kingsley released his arm. Severus pushed up his left sleeve, just revealing pale skin. Kingsley frowned and placed his hand on the man's forearm while Dracka distracted the woman.

"I will be able to pass over the wards," Severus said softly.

"How?" Kingsley gasped, since he couldn't feel the mark under his fingers.

"Who do you think?" Severus whispered.

Kingsley snatched his hand back, like he had been burnt with large eyes.

"Now, show me where Blake is." Severus hissed, his eyes flashing.

"Follow me," Kingsley said softly.

"Dracka!" Severus snapped. "Stop playing with your dinner!"

Dracka and Milly looked up and Dracka gave him a leer as he patted the woman on the shoulder and moved smoothly over to the other two men.

"Jealous?" Dracka drawled as he got closer.

"Of your next meal?" Severus questioned lightly. "Hardly. I'm sure with all these death eaters around, you could find an easier meal than an Auror."

Dracka perked up and twin dark eyes looked over at Kingsley and the man shifted slightly.

"Ah," Kingsley stuttered.

Dracka barked a laugh and clapped a hand to the man's shoulder.

"I'm sure Blake will do," Dracka replied and flashed his fangs in Shacklebolt's direction and the man paled.

Severus smirked as Kingsley stood rooted to the spot.

"Regretting asking the vampire to come?" Severus asked softly, with a glint in his eyes.

"I find these situations just come with having Blake Sun around," Kingsley said slowly, before moving off down the hallway. "You would think I would be used to it by now."

Severus and Dracka shared a look of amusement before following the other man. They stopped briefly to hand over their wards before moving into where the cells were. Kingsley stopped at one and pulled a key from his robe and unlocked the door and slid it open.

Severus moved forward to see Blake was curled up on his side on one of the beds looking pale. He knelt down beside the bed and ran his hand over the other man's head gently.

"Why did he collapse?" Dracka asked quietly next to Kingsley.

"Medic said exhaustion," Kingsley replied softly. "That's the problem with curse breakers. I should have called for another curse breaker to watch him as he worked, to stop this from happening. I think we forget sometimes…when it's Blake."

Severus ran his hand down to the man's shoulder and shook him gently. Blake jolted slightly and pale green eyes silted open to peer up at him before the man lifted a hand and rubbed his face before glancing around.

"Ah, shit." Blake whispered. "What did I do this time?"

"Used to waking up in prison, Mr Sun?" Severus asked softly, as Dracka and Kingsley snorted.

"Only when they catch me," Blake replied with a lopsided grin, but his tired eyes gave him away.

Blake rolled over onto his back and glanced over at the two men in the doorway with a frown.

"Why is the vampire here?" Blake asked.

"Kingsley thought I wouldn't be able to pass over the wards," Severus said softly. "Dracka was the back-up plan."

"Ah," Blake replied. "Hungry, Dracka?"

Dracka growled softly.

"Kingsley," Blake said softly. "I'm sure you can find something for Dracka. Ms Carter might be interested?"

"Come with me, Mr Dracka." Kinsley said with a smirk and led the vampire away.

Severus looked after them with wide eyes before turning back to Blake. The man gave him an amused smirk.

"He isn't going to let the vampire…" Severus trailed off.

Blake gave him a grin in answer before pulling himself into a sitting position and Severus stood up and looked down at him. Blake ran his hands over his head.

"I collapsed, didn't I?" Blake asked softly.

"Yes," Severus replied.

"Damn it," Blake swore. "Kingsley is probably going to have someone watching me now."

Blake reached over and picked up his cane before getting to his feet, swaying slightly. Severus resisted the temptation to reach out and steady him. Blake got his feet under him and Severus stepped back to the doorway.

"Are we leaving the vampire here?" Severus asked softly.

Blake looked around, his eyes slightly hollow and Severus frowned in concern.

"Sure," Blake replied. "Kingsley will look after him."

Severus adjusted his steps to Blake's as they moved through the hallways with Blake in the lead. The Auror at the main desk of the cells gave Blake a smile as he handed over his wand and Blake passed it to Severus, to the Auror's surprise, as Severus held his hand out for his own wand. The man hesitated slightly before handing it over to Severus and he placed both wands away.

"Hope you are feeling better soon, Blake." The man said.

"Thank you, Tom." Blake said with a smile. "I'll see you in a couple of days."

The man gave him another smile as Blake and Severus moved through to the main entrance. The woman looked up with a smile that dimmed slightly when she didn't see Dracka but then brightened when she saw Blake.

"Feeling better, Blake?" Milly asked with a smile.

"Yes, thank you." Blake replied with a smile and grabbed Severus's hand. "Bye, Milly."

Severus started slightly and glanced down at Blake in surprise but the man was looking over at the woman before limping towards the main door.

"Bye, Blake." Milly called out after them.

Blake apparated them as they took one step out of the doors and before they could move out onto the street. Severus grabbed the man when he stumbled into his side as they landed. Blake didn't pull away and Severus tightened his arms around him.

Severus and Blake soaked in the cool night as they stood there, listening to the animals calling out softly as they looked up at the castle. Blake leaned back into Severus's chest as the taller man wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"Fawkes is out," Blake pointed out. "I swear he always seems to burst into flames when the Headmaster calls me up to his office."

Severus snorted in amusement, while the two men watched the phoenix.

"What was the spell that hit me?" Severus asked quietly.

"I'm still not sure," Blake replied. "It seemed to be an adaption from an old Russian spell. It had a delay on it, which was lucky for us, or it could have kicked in when you apparated to the Weasleys shop."

"That would have been a shock for them," Severus said quietly and Blake snorted.

"It was a battle field spell," Blake said softly. "Do you remember which death eater cast it?"

"No," Severus replied. "I know I got hit with a blasting charm."

"Yes," Blake replied. "I read the files from the Aurors. They were impressed by your skills, by the way. I also think that they will be lining up outside the Weasley's store as well. Nott won't be happy when he gets the damage bill for his house."

Severus chuckled and tightened his hold around the other man.

"I like that man." Dracka said suddenly, as he apparated near them with a box in his hands.

Severus and Blake looked over at the vampire and he gave them a grin with a glint in his eyes.

"Even if he does make me do the heavy lifting," Dracka smirked, as he moved up towards the castle.

Blake groaned and tilted his head back against Severus's chest as the taller man held him.

"Oh, god." Blake moaned. "What have I created."

xXx

Harry sighed as the warm water ran over his back, relaxing the tense muscles.

"I hope you haven't drowned in there?" Severus called and Harry snorted.

"Hovering like a mother hen, Severus?" Harry called back.

"Only so you don't crack your head open if you fall asleep standing up," Severus drawled back.

Harry groaned and knew he wasn't going to live this down as the water pounded down on his head.

"It's not like this is the first time," Harry remarked.

"Of you collapsing at work," Severus said softly. "Yes, it is."

Harry started, as he realised that it was the first time that he'd collapsed at work while he'd been with Severus.

"Is this something I should get used to?" Severus asked mildly.

Harry stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel Severus held out.

"Sorry," Harry replied. "And probably. Happens when working with spells and wards, you are too focused on them and nothing else around you. You don't notice you have pushed too far, until you are tipping over the edge, when you pull back from the magic."

Severus looked at him with dark unreadable eyes as he looked him over.

"Why did you want to sleep on the lounge?" Severus asked softly, throwing Harry.

Harry paused as he ran the towel over his head, spiking up his hair.

"So, you could get some sleep," Harry replied mildly, hanging his towel up. "Just easier than dealing with a grumpy lover in the morning. My wife used to kick me out of the bed when the nightmares were bad. They settle down eventually."

"You can talk to me about them, if that would help." Severus offered softly.

"I would rather not," Harry replied.

Severus pulled himself up to his full height as he crossed his arms and Harry silently cursed, he had hurt the man.

"Shit, Severus!" Harry cursed and ran a hand over his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Severus looked him over with dark unreadable eyes.

"They are just nightmares and will fade," Harry said softly. "Nothing to worry about."

"You don't normally have nightmares," Severus replied.

Harry nodded and said, "But when I do, you know about it."

Severus's lips twitched and Harry gave him a grin and Severus's expression softened.

"Bed?" Harry asked softly.

"Bed," Severus agreed.

xXx

Severus woke to the feeling of Blake sprawled out over his back and snoring softly in his ear. He winched slightly at the tender feeling in his ribs as he grabbed Blake's hand and curled his fingers with the other man's. Feeling the rough feeling of his palm. Blake shifted slightly in his sleep and Severus breathed a little easier. He pushed back and Blake shifted until he was curled along his back instead of squashing him into the mattress. Severus smiled softly as he listened to the man's soft breathing before tangling his legs more with Blake's and falling back to sleep.

xXx

"That's the last of them," Harry said as he placed the file in front of Albus a week later in the Great Hall as he brought up a silencing charm around them. "Twenty-six with marks and eighteen without. The ones without go on trial next month, I have Mr Boulder's firm looking them over now. I'm sure we can draw it out for a few months. Leaving the Dark Lord short in supporters that little longer. I'm sure some paperwork could go missing as well for a while."

"Thank you, my boy." Albus said with a smile as he looked the man over.

"I'll need to borrow Dracka for a day to pick out the ones with creature blood," Harry said calmly as he looked over at the vampire who leered at him. "I'm sure he won't mind. Ms Carter has been asking for you Dracka."

A glint came into Dracka's eyes as Severus groaned.

"One of your meals, Dracka?" Severus asked smoothly.

Dracka turned his leer onto Severus as Harry looked at the two men before turning to Albus. The Headmaster was looking him over with an odd look in his eyes.

"What?" Harry asked softly.

"Nothing, my boy." Albus said softly. "I'm sure that Dracka can spare a Saturday or Sunday to help you."

"We'll keep them at the prison," Harry said. "I'll be reinforcing the wands next weekend."

"Why are you looking for creature blood?" Albus asked softly.

Harry stilled as he reached for the tea on the table and Dracka and Severus turned to him as well.

"It will become important," Harry said carefully. "But not yet."

Dracka sat up in his seat and focused on him, his eyes intense with a slight frown on his brow.

"But that is a concern for another day," Harry said calmly as he sat back in his seat and looked out over the hall.

"Care to explain?" Severus drawled.

"No," Harry said shortly and the conversation dropped.

xXx

Dracka watched Blake out of the corner of his eye as they walked down the muggle street just before dawn. It was mostly deserted as they walked along and Dracka knew it was going to be a long day since they wouldn't be leaving until after the sun set. The man looked better than he had over the last couple of weeks but he still looked tired as they walked along and the demon in the back of his mind took notice as the man's scent reached his nose as they moved.

Blake paused at the office building, serving as the prison and grabbed the front door and held it open for Dracka with a glint in his eyes. Dracka flashed him a grin as he stepped in and he eyed off the woman behind the desk, since the prison was manned twenty-four hours a day.

"Mr Dracka," The woman greeted with a smile, eyes only for him as he smoothly moved closer.

Blake sighed and moved towards the chairs next to the door that lead into the main prison as Dracka smiled at the woman at the desk.

"Milly, my dear." Dracka cooed as he moved closer and the woman's scent rolled towards him.

"Are you here for long, Rolf?" Milly said as she brushed her brown hair behind her ear.

"Just the day," Dracka replied, as Blake took a seat near the door at the back, watching them but not saying anything.

"Oh," The woman said with a smile. "I finish just before lunch if you wanted to get something?"

"I'm sorry, Milly." Dracka said softly. "I already have a date."

Milly's eyes flicked over to Blake and the man gave her a wink as he sprawled out in the chair.

"But," The woman stuttered.

"Perhaps another time?" Dracka said softly, with a smile.

"Ah," Milly said with wide eyes as he looked between Blake and Dracka.

Dracka gave her a disarming smile and moved towards Blake. The man got to his feet and opened the door to the main prison with a smirk.

"I'll see you later, Milly." Dracka called over as he moved passed Blake, making sure he brushed against the other man and watched Milly blush nicely.

Blake fell into step with him without a word and Dracka glanced over to him but the man's face was closed, not giving away his thoughts, as they moved through to the check point.

"Blake," Simon greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm well, Simon." Blake said, with a grin as he passed over his cherry wand. Dracka placed his light-coloured wand next to his, his wand an inch longer than Blake's. "We are just going to go for a little walk down the cells."

Dracka gave Blake a leer as the Auror took their wands and placed them away.

"Kingsley already rang," Simon said with a smile, as he slid a ring with keys on it towards Blake who scooped them up and placed them away in his pocket.

"Perfect," Blake replied as the Auror buzzed them into the cell area.

Blake and Dracka moved into the main cells and Dracka moved to the first cell with Blake behind him.

"Well," Blake said softly. "Do your vampire thing."

Dracka turned to the man in the small hallway as the noise of the men and woman in the cells washed over them and he stepped closer to Blake, his demon near the surface of his mind.

"Ms Carter, is in the fourth cell along." Blake said softly.

Dracka flicked his eyes over to the cell before turning back to see the smirk on Blake's face.

"Would you like me to put up a silencing charm?" Blake said with a leer that went straight through Dracka. "Or do you like an audience?"

Dracka smirked and stepped closer to the man and could see Blake tense, even if nothing showed on his face.

"I don't mind sharing?" Dracka said with a leer.

"I do," Blake replied mildly.

Dracka smirked at him as the demon in him growled but he pushed it to the side.

"Work first," Dracka replied mildly. "Pleasure later."

Blake's lips twisted up in a smile as he looked at him and Dracka stepped back to the first cell as Blake pulled out a notebook to write down anything Dracka could get from the prisoner.

They worked through the prisoners for the next few hours with Blake staying back and watching from outside the cell as Dracka moved forward and took a sniff of the death eaters. Blake's eyes on his back, as he worked with each person in the cells. Getting any information, he could, while still staying within the law.

They stopped for lunch in the rec room before moving onto the second level of the prison. Dracka looked Avery Nott over with a sneer when Blake opened the cell and stepped back to the wall.

"I was wondering when you would be back," Nott sneered as he looked over at Blake and Dracka growled slightly.

"Feeling lonely, were you?" Blake asked mildly as he leaned against the wall outside the cell.

Dracka moved into the cell and Nott's eyes flicked between the two men.

"What is this?" Nott demanded.

"This is my pet vampire," Blake said mildly. "Rolf Dracka."

Dracka leered over at Blake and Nott took advantage of his inattention and smashed into his side. Dracka growled and grabbed the man as he tried to dash towards the open cell door. Nott lashed out with his fist and Dracka let it fall on his ribs as he twisted the arm he held in his hand and pushed the man back and let him go.

Nott stumbled back with wide eyes as Dracka stalked forward, with the demon at the forefront of his mind. Nott scrambled back across the cell as Dracka moved in on the man.

"Do something!" Nott yelled at Blake.

"Why?" Blake said blandly.

"He'll kill me!" Nott yelped, as Dracka grabbed him.

Nott lashed out but Dracka used his added strength to twist the man around and push him face first into the wall. He twisted the man's arm up as he pushed his body into his back. Dracka licked up the side of the man's neck as he shook under him and the smell of fear rolling off the man made his mouth water.

"Sun!" Nott yelled.

Dracka glanced over his shoulder but Blake was just leaning against the wall calmly, with no expression on his face. Dracka turned back to Nott and breathed on his neck.

"This is against the law!" Nott squeaked.

"You attacked him first, Nott." Blake replied calmly. "He has a right, since at the moment, he is working for a member of the Ministry of Magic. If you didn't swing your fist at him, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"No!" Nott yelled as Dracka plunged his fangs into the man's neck and the man cried out.

The man struggled briefly as he drank in the man's blood and magic and the demon in him hummed in pleasure. He could feel Blake's eyes on his back as the man under him started to relax, he eased up and pulled back. Nott's eyes were glazed over as Dracka licked over the bite mark, just slight marks on the man's neck and let the man go.

Nott crumbled into a heap on the floor as he glazed up at Dracka with a slight smile on his face and Dracka sneered down at him before turning to Blake and stalking towards the other man.

"No creature blood there," Dracka said softly, as he moved close to Blake. "He should be out for a while."

Blake looked down at his notebook and wrote it down before moving around Dracka and closing the cell door.

"Next one then," Blake said calmly.

Dracka leaned in as the man went to pass him and took a sniff of his scent and Blake paused and glanced at him.

"Yes?" The man drawled.

"I hope the next one decides to fight as well," Dracka said with a leer, watching Blake carefully.

"Oh, god." Blake moaned as he moved to the next cell and opened the door and looked into the room. "I don't think you'll have a problem with this one."

Dracka moved forward as Blake moved back to the wall and he looked into the room to see the cowering man and he sneered.

"You take me to the best places," Dracka drawled over to him and Blake gave him a grin.

"Proceed, Mr Dracka." Blake said calmly and waved his hand.

A couple of hours later they made their way back down to the first floor and Dracka moved towards the cell containing Ms Alice Carter, Blake following behind. Blake moved forward and opened the cell before stepping to the side. Dracka gave him a leer as he moved into the cell and the woman looked up with a sly smile.

"Are you going to watch Blake?" Dracka asked over his shoulder, as he moved towards the woman and her smile widened as she got to her feet in a smooth movement.

"Just give me a call when you're done," Blake replied and closed the cell door but Dracka could still smell his scent in the hallway.

That added to the excitement as he moved towards the woman.

xXx

Harry let his head rest back against the wall outside the cell as he casually cast the silencing charm on the cell as he waited on the seat he had conjured. It didn't stop him from hearing what was going on in the cell, for he would still have to hear Dracka when the man wanted out, but at least the Aurors and prisoners wouldn't hear the vampire's antics.

He tuned them out as much as he could as he looked over the notebook in his hands. Once he was finished he pulled another notebook out of his pocket placed the two books together and with a whispered spell he copied one book to the other as the noise increased in the cell. He ignored his own reaction to the sound as he placed the two notebooks away. Bloody vampires.

He felt almost jealous with how much easier it was for them as he waited. From the sounds of it, Ms Carter was enjoying herself as Harry leaned his head back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. The woman wasn't very powerful, but had vampire blood. Too much, from Dracka's reaction and her reaction to him. Bloody vampires.

xXx

Dracka licked his lips, very satisfied, as he pulled back from the woman under him. Alice looked up at him with a sly smile and ran her fingernails down his sides drawing blood and he growled softly and she eased off.

The woman shivered as their magic settled along her form and Dracka leered down at her before pulling himself to his feet. She looked over his naked body slowly and he gave her a wink. He had marked her as part of his Coven now, so she would fall under his protection as he looked her over. Only blood was necessary for that, but he would take whatever she wanted to offer and he had been very happy with what she had offered.

"Know any French?" Dracka asked as he slipped his pants on.

"No," Alice replied. "Will I need to?"

"It would help," Dracka replied. "My Coven is in France."

"My father's Coven is here," Alice replied with a smile as she sat up.

"You have two choices," Dracka said stalking closer. "Here in this cell or my Coven."

The woman grabbed his hips and pulled him closer to plant a kiss on his bare stomach and Dracka growled softly and she pulled back tilting her head slightly.

"You grew up in your father's Coven?" Dracka asked softly.

"Yes," Alice replied.

"So, you know the language," Dracka said softly as he placed his hands on the woman's shoulders.

"Yes," Alice replied with a smirk.

Dracka's eyes strayed to the dark mark on the woman's arm and ran his fingers down the tattoo. She shivered under his hand and pulled him closer as she flicked his belt back open with a sly smile.

"Too much vampire blood in you," Dracka muttered as she pushed his pants back down.

"That's rich coming from an elder vampire," Alice said with a smile before pulling him closer.

xXx

Harry started slightly when Dracka called his name having fell asleep on the chair he was sitting on as he waited.

"Open the bloody cell, Sun!" Dracka snapped.

"Yeah, hold on." Harry called, as he pulled himself to his feet stiffly. "I would say keep your pants on, but I think that would be a bad choice of words."

Dracka barked a laugh as Harry opened the cell and stood to the side as Dracka stepped out, looking very satisfied and well fed. The man gave him a leer and Harry ignored him as he closed the cell door behind him.

"She'll be moving to my Coven," Dracka stated calmly.

"After her trial," Harry replied mildly. "Then she will fall under your protection. It is likely she will be exiled from England, if you take her to France."

"Very well," Dracka purred and closed the gap between them.

Dracka stepped in close and gave him a sniff.

Harry lashed out with his fist and copped him a good one in the side and Dracka stumbled back with a grunt in surprise as he looked up at Harry with red eyes and a growl. Harry barred his teeth at the vampire and stepped forward with a soft growl of his own. Dracka's eyes widened as Harry stalked closer, forcing Dracka back a step.

"Do not push," Harry hissed, as he moved in close to Dracka and the vampire pulled himself up to his full height, holding his ground.

Harry closed the gap between them, his eyes blazing green and Dracka stepped back instinctively. Harry growled low in his throat and Dracka tilted his head slightly to the side. Harry held his ground for a second before taking one step back.

"Shall we go?" Harry asked mildly, as if the whole exchanged hadn't happened and the tension eased between them.

"Are you taking me to dinner in repayment for all this work?" Dracka asked softly.

Harry gave him a smirk in amusement.

"I thought I already did?"

xXx

Severus looked up as Blake and Dracka moved through the doors of the Great Hall together. Both men moving smoothly, even with Blake's cane, as they spoke quietly. He eyed them over while they were distracted and the easy way they moved. He could understand why some people would think that they were lovers as they made their way towards the Head Table and he watched the two men with dark eyes.

Blake turned slightly and gave him a grin as he moved towards Albus and placed a notebook in front of the Headmaster as Dracka moved around the table. Blake spoke quietly to the Headmaster and since Severus couldn't hear his words, he knew the man had thrown up a silencing charm around them. Dracka collapsed in the seat next to him and he glanced over at the vampire.

"You look happy," Severus drawled.

"More than that," Dracka drawled back with a leer that put Severus on edge.

"Have fun at the prison, did you?" Severus asked as he sat back in his seat.

Dracka gave him a wide smile, showing off his fangs as he lounged back in his seat.

"Ignore him," Blake said as he took a seat on the other side of Severus. "He's drunk on death eater blood."

Severus shivered as Dracka looked over at him.

"If you are sick later, it's your own fault." Blake said mildly as he filled his plate. "God only knows what's in Nott's blood."

"Didn't you handle his blood when you broke the blood wards?" Dracka pointed out, mildly.

"That's what magic is for. To burn away anything in the man's blood." Blake replied, then grimaced. "…And bleach."


	10. Chapter Twenty Six

Author's rambling: The closed border with USA is purely for this story and no other reason and not to be taken personally :-) You may have also worked out that I have called each country's Ministry as the Ministry of Magic then the country. For one reason: to make it simpler (I am in no doubt they are each called something different). Also, the International Portkey Platforms are the same for each country. They will come into play more in the next part of this story.

Where Snape was killed in the last battle in Harry's timeline was the only big change that I made to Canon. He did not give Harry any memories as well.

 

xXx

 

Harry dropped a slip of paper on to the book Severus was reading as he sat in one of his armchairs. The man picked it up and looked down at it before looking up at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

“What would this be?” Severus asked smoothly.

“Um,” Harry replied unsure. “It’s a cheque.”

“Cheque?”

Harry cocked his head to the side.

“I know it took a while,” Harry said slowly as he came to stand in front of the man. “But the wards around Spinner’s End were a bit more of a problem than I thought they would be. Plus, Mr Boulder had a lot of trouble tracking down the owners of the apartments next door and-“

“What is this?” Severus said, cutting Harry off as he held up the piece of paper.

“Well,” Harry said slowly. “We demolished the houses and I broke through the ground wards of Spinner’s end, which took a while I might add. Then my real estate agent said you would get a better price if we developed the land and sold it off in units which meant more ground wards had to be broken through-“

“This, Sun.” Severus growled holding up the piece of paper. “What is it?”

Harry stood still looking at Severus as the man held the paper up.

“Your cut,” Harry said simply and rubbing his head. “We sold it to muggles so it’s in Pounds but the goblins can convert it for you. I'll make sure they give you a good conversion rate.”

Severus looked down at the piece of paper with knew eyes.

“Should make your vault look a little more full,” Harry said with a smirk. “Sorry it took so long.”

Severus looked up at him in shock.

“You got this much money for that run-down piece of shit?” Severus said in shock.

“Ah, well.” Harry said and pulled a brochure from his back pocket and held it out to the seated man. “It didn’t look like that when I sold it.”

Severus looked down at the brochure in his hands in disbelief, as it showed him pictures of top end apartments in a fancy looking apartment block.

“So yeah.” Harry said, as Severus looked it over. “Here is the key to one of the apartments I kept for you, you can sell it or rent it out or whatever. It’s a two-bedroom apartment on the top floor.”

Severus carefully placed his book and the brochure to the side of the chair and stood. He took the key in his hand and slipped it into his pocket as he looked down at the man in front of him. Harry ran a hand over his head again and gave him a crooked smile.

“So, yeah-” Harry went to say but it ended in a squeak as Severus grabbed him around the waist.

Severus looked down at him for a second before lifting him up and tumbled them back onto the lounge as Harry gave a laugh. Severus grinned and took the man into a deep kiss.

“You are one of a kind, you know that?” Severus purred in his ear.

“Of course!” Harry laughed. “World couldn’t deal with two of me!”

Severus’s laughter filled the room at the irony of the other man’s words. He quickly slipped out of his robes as his eyes darkened as he looked at the other man and Harry grinned and reached forward to run his hands through Severus's hair and the other man paused.

Harry pushed the man's hair back as he looked into his eyes and pulled the hair band loose at the back. While Severus ran his hands under the man's shirt and Harry moved forward slightly as Severus pulled it over his head.

Harry laid back on the lounge and took in the image of his lover as Severus slipped out of his shirt revealing pale skin. Severus looked up and shifted slightly as Harry looked at him.

"What?" Severus purred and Harry shivered as his voice rolled over him.

Harry moved forward and grabbed the man, pulling him closer as he kissed him deeply, his hands running down his soft skin until he grabbed his waist and slipped his hands under his belt. Severus pulled back slightly before kissing down his neck and Harry tilted his head to the side as his hands moved to the front of the other man's pants. He quickly flicked his belt open and slipped his hands inside.

He cupped his balls as he ran his hand up Severus length as his other hand grabbed the man's hip and pulled him until Severus was laying between his legs as Harry worked on getting him rock hard.

Severus pulled back and looked down at him before giving him a smirk and running his nails down his sides and Harry gasped as his nails left marks down his skin and his eyes darkened as he cursed, making Severus chuckle.

"Is that pay back?" Harry asked in amusement.

"I'm sure you will get me back," Severus purred as he dipped forward and kissed his collar bone as Harry pulled back and closed his eyes.

Severus worked down his body kissing and nibbling along the marks he had left on his skin and goose bumps came up on his arms as he shivered slightly. Severus paused briefly to unbuckle his belt and Harry lifted his hips for the man to slip his pants down, his cock springing free, rock hard.

Severus kissed down his thighs and legs as he moved between his legs before taking his cock in his mouth and Harry moaned softly as he tightened his hold on the lounge to stop him from grabbing the man. What Severus may have lacked in skills he made up for in knowing what brought Harry to the edge without tipping him over and he was a quick learner.

Severus played with his balls as he licked up his length one more time before pulling back and Harry looked down at him between his legs. He curled his legs around him as he leaned forward and took him in a deep kiss.

"Sit up here," Harry purred and Severus got to his feet.

Harry moved and pushed Severus back on the lounge and took the position the other man had been in moments before between Severus's legs and dark eyes watched him. Harry pulled his hips to the edge of the lounge as he laid his hands on his knees before giving the man a grin.

He ran his hands up Severus's thighs and pushed his legs further apart as Severus watched him. He cupped the man's balls before leaning forward and licking up his length before taking the head of his cock in his mouth and swallowing him down, pulling a moan from the other man's throat.

Severus's hands grabbed his shoulders as Harry pulled back and ran his tongue around the head of his cock before moving down his length again as he rolled his balls and the man panted. Harry circled his fingers around the base of his cock with one hand as he moved up and down his length and Severus's hands dug into his skin as he panted slightly.

Severus's cock was rock hard in his mouth and the small moans Severus made had his cock twitching but he ignored it. He pulled back and flicked his tongue over the head of the man's cock as he held him back from coming and Severus swore. Harry pulled back and looked up at him.

Severus's eyes were half closed and dark with a slight blush to his cheeks as Harry grabbed his cock and gave it a slight tug as he released him and he came with a groan as his fingers dug into Harry's skin and he hissed slightly at the pain. The man was definitely going to be leaving marks.

Severus released him as he lay back going boneless with his head thrown back and Harry smirked at the sight and with a quick flick of his wrist cleaned the man up before taking the man's half hard cock in his mouth and Severus gasped as Harry sucked slightly. He quickly had the man hard again as he worked with Severus panting above him. He moved up and down his cock quickly and Severus came again and Harry swallowed it down.

"Fuck, sorry." Severus said quickly and Harry chuckled at the salty taste at the back of his throat.

Severus's eyes looked guarded as he looked at him and Harry frowned as he kissed his thighs and moved up his body. He saddled the man's waist, his own cock hard between them and Severus grabbed his hip in one hand and his cock in the other as he watched him with dark eyes.

Harry licked around his nipple before flicking it with his tongue before moving up and capturing the man's lips in a kiss as Severus ran his hand up and down his length and Harry could feel the pleasure building as he pulled back and laid his head on the man's shoulder as he moved his hips slightly as Severus increased the speed and he quickly came with a soft moan and one last thrust of his hips before going boneless as Severus chuckled as he wrapped his arms around him holding him close as he saddled his thighs.

Harry panted slightly as he cast the cleaning charm and felt the magic settle on his skin and grimaced. He was going to need a shower but for now he just soaked in the feeling of the man under him as he straightened out his leg.

"Do you want me to move over?" Harry whispered.

"No," Severus whispered back and tightened his hold. "Should have given you a warning."

"Of what?" Harry asked as he listened to Severus's heart while his head rested on his chest.

"That I was going to come again," Severus said quietly. "Haven't come twice before like that."

Harry gave a chuckle and pulled back to look at him and gave him a grin.

"You're welcome," Harry said with a smirk.

Severus grabbed his bum with both his hands and gave it a squeeze and Harry squeaked.

"Oi!" Harry laughed before leaning forward and giving Severus a kiss.

xXx

Harry sat at the back of one of Ry's DA classes as the students cast spells back and forth between each other. He had gotten a few looks when the students had arrived but he had said nothing as Ry ran the class while he'd tapped his wand against his leg from the safety of his chair and a slight protection charm around him.

The students were a lot better than he was expecting and Ry was a good teacher as he moved through and worked with each student. He would call a stop every now and again as he showed the students something before getting them going again. He watched his son as he worked with a third year girl, fondly as he ran through how to do a spell with the girl.

More than a few of the students working around the room were from his own classes so he was aware of their talent as they shouted out encouragement or good-natured insults at each other.

"Okay everyone," Ry called out and everyone stopped to look over at him. "We'll call it a night and meet again next week."

Everyone broke up and moved out of the room as Harry dropped his protection charm as he leaned back against the wall behind him. Ry turned to him and gave him a grin before moving over.

"What are you doing here?" Ry asked.

"I'm just taking an interest in my son's interests," Harry replied with a wink.

"Did Snape kick you out?" Ry asked as he conjured his own seat and sat down before his father.

"Now why would you think that?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"It's Snape," Ry replied with a grin of his own. "…And it's you."

"I was curious," Harry replied.

"They want to fight," Ry said softly.

"They are children, Ry." Harry said just as softly.

"And when the school is attacked?" Ry countered.

"We will have the Ministry, Aurors, the Department, the Order and the Council fighting," Harry said shortly. "All current students of this school will be held back by the wards and will be evacuated if the wards on the castle are breached."

"What about me?"

Harry looked at his son and sighed, Ry reached out a hand and laid it on his father's knee.

"Will not be keyed to the wards," Harry said softly as he covered his son's hand. "Now, is there anything you want me to teach you?"

"How to defeat Voldemort," Ry said with a stubborn tilt to his chin.

"Ha!" Harry barked a laugh as he looked his son. "Harry, I have looked after and taught you since you were a baby and you don't think I haven't been teaching you how to defeat him?"

Ry snatched his hand back as he looked at his father with wide eyes.

"You are more advanced in magic than anyone at this school, Ry." Harry said softly. "You have more duelling ability than some Aurors but you are still young."

"But…" Ry stuttered.

"I did not want to turn you into a warrior, Ry. I wanted you to live your life as much as you could, the same way I wanted to live mine." Harry said softly and leaned forward in his chair. "Do not forget you have support. You have Albus Dumbledore and so many others to back you up. Fighting ability is just one aspect of going up against a Dark Lord. It is what you do off the battle field that can determine whether you win or lose when the fighting starts."

Ry looked at his father and Harry gave him a smile.

"What about when you were young?" Ry asked, throwing Harry. "What special training did you have?"

"Me?" Harry questioned, with a glint in his eyes. "I had no training beyond what the teachers of this school taught me and what Hermione drilled into us."

"What?" Ry questioned in shock and Harry could see the doubt in his son's eyes. "Nothing?"

Harry sat back in his chair and smirked.

"Nothing," Harry agreed. "Except my friends."

"Dumbledore?"

"No."

"Snape?"

"Tried and failed. I could have done better but there was too much bad blood between us."

Ry just looked at his father and Harry looked back mildly, letting the boy think it all through.

"Light and dark magic," Ry blurted out.

"Had no idea how to access it," Harry said softly. "Or even knew I had it."

"No," Ry said and smiled at his father. "Can you teach me how to pull on it?"

Harry rubbed a hand over his head.

"I can try," Harry replied. "But, you might be too young to work with it. It's not the same as working with wizard magic. It is potent and hard to control if you don't know what you are doing."

Harry took out his notebook and flicked it open then pulled out another notebook that had his students' timetables in it and flicked it open to Ry's timetable.

"How about Tuesday after lunch?" Harry asked and looked up at his son.

"We can't do it now?" Ry asked with a frown.

"We have to work outside the wards of Hogwarts," Harry said with amusement. "Albus yells at me enough when I use dark magic. I'm not getting blamed if you pull on dark magic."

Ry laughed and Harry gave his son a lopsided grin.

xXx

Severus frowned as he looked around his seventh-year potion's class and the missing spot where Potter should have been. He looked down at his watch then the door, the boy was late, which was unlike him.

"Granger," Severus purred and the girl jumped slightly in her chair and looked at him with large eyes.

"Yes, sir?" Granger asked as she glanced over at the open door.

"Where is Potter?" Severus hissed.

"Um," Granger stuttered. "He had a lesson with Mr Sun, sir."

Severus's lips twisted up in a sneer as a couple of Slytherins snickered. Severus pulled his phone from his pocket and called Blake's number.

"Yeah?" Blake answered.

"Where is Potter?"

"In the hospital wing," Blake answered. "Sorry, forgot to call you."

Severus felt a coldness settle in his stomach and he turned his back on the class.

"Where are you?" Severus asked quietly.

"In my room," Blake answered. "I'm sure you can torture Ry tomorrow."

"What did you do?"

Severus heard the man sigh across the phone and he frowned.

"Finish your class Severus," Blake said softly. "Wake me after."

Blake hung up the phone and Severus cursed silently as he turned back to his class and flicked his wand at the door and it slammed shut loudly startling some of the students. He flicked his wand again and instruction for the potion they were working on appeared on the board.

"Follow the instructions," Severus drawled and the class scrambled.

The students were happy to pile out of the classroom and hour and a half later and Severus was glad to see the last of them. He stalked out of his classroom and down to Blake's rooms, any students in the hallway scattering before him as he pulled Blake's door open and slammed it shut behind him.

He moved to the bedroom door and pulled it open sharply then pulled up short. Blake was sprawled out across the bed still asleep. Severus frowned, the man was normally a light sleeper, so him slamming the door, should have woken him.

He moved to the bed and looked down at the man under the covers, he was still dressed which surprised Severus as he looked down at the man. He left Blake there and headed out of the man's room and up to the hospital wing instead.

"Severus," Poppy greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm well," Severus replied with a slight smile. "Is Potter still here?"

"Oh, yes." Poppy said. "Blake brought him in, I have him in one of the private rooms. Just go on through, you can tell him he can leave now."

Severus moved through to the back rooms and he opened the first door to see Potter in one of the beds with a book in his hands. He looked up, then paled when he saw Severus. The potion master moved into the room and closed the door behind him. Pulling himself up to his full height as he pulled his robes around himself as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the boy.

"Um," Ry said and gave the man a small grin. "I didn't mean to."

"Didn't mean to what, Potter?" Severus drawled.

"Ah," Ry stuttered and looked away from the man. "Well, Dad was trying to show me how to draw on light magic and it didn't work out as well as we were expecting."

Severus felt the coldness come back to his stomach at the boy's words.

"And how did it work out?" Severus hissed.

"With Dad hitting the protection charm he had placed and knocking me out," Ry said with an innocent look on his face.

Severus cursed and Ry pulled back in the bed.

"Um," Ry muttered. "People know I'm here."

Severus glared over at the boy, half in amusement and half in frustration.

"So," Severus drawled. "Will this lesson be repeated?"

Ry snorted.

"Dad didn't look happy," Ry said softly. "So, maybe."

Severus gave the boy a slight smile.

"Did you see Dad?" Ry asked.

"He was sprawled out on his bed, dead to the world." Severus replied.

"Is that why you are here?" Ry asked as he looked the other man over.

"In part," Severus said and uncrossed his arms and moved towards the boy. "I want you to meet me in my office on Saturday after dinner."

"Why?" Ry asked.

"Because I am asking you," Severus drawled.

"Um, okay." Ry stuttered. "It's not a detention is it?"

"No," Severus replied with a smirk. "Madam Pomfrey said you can leave as well."

"Great," Ry said with a grin.

Severus watched in amusement as the boy quickly scrambled from the bed and grabbed his book. The boy stood in front of him.

"You might want to see your father tomorrow morning," Severus said softly. "Preferably after he's had coffee."

"Not tonight?" Ry asked in concern. "He is okay?"

"It's your father," Severus pointed out. "Would he tell us if he weren't?"

"Ha!" Ry barked. "Probably not, night Professor."

"Good night, Potter." Severus replied.

The boy gave him a nod before dashing out of the room leaving Severus looking after him as Poppy yelled at the boy as he ran passed and Severus's smirk widened into a grin.

xXx

Harry woke to a splitting headache and groaned softly as he curled up and cupped his head to try and ease the pain. He could feel Severus's back against his and he frowned. He glanced over at the clock to see it was one in the morning as his head pounded. He crawled from the bed and onto the floor before sitting back on his heels, the bed at his back.

"What are you doing?" Severus purred as he rolled onto his other side to look at him.

"Head," Harry said softly as he held his head.

Severus cursed as he pulled himself from the bed and pulled some pants on.

"I'll get a pain potion," Severus said shortly and moved out of the room.

Harry massaged his temples as he tried to ease off the tension in his head as he silently cursed Ry, not that it was the boy's fault. Harry just hadn't been quick enough to grab the backlash of power.

"Here," Severus whispered.

Harry grabbed the potion and knocked it back as he sat back against the bed.

"I spoke with Ry," Severus said as he knelt in front of him in just his pants as he looked him over.

"How did that go?" Harry asked in amusement. "At least with him in the hospital wing, he wouldn't have to go far if you cursed him."

Severus gave him a smirk, but his dark eyes were filled with concern as he looked at him. Harry could feel the potion working as he eased back against the side of the bed, relaxing as the pain eased off.

"He said you were trying to teach him to draw on light magic?" Severus asked and took a seat next to Harry with his shoulder against his as he leaned back against the bed and placed a hand on Harry's naked thigh.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Didn't go to plan."

"With the whole hitting the protection charm," Severus said mildly.

"Yes," Harry replied, already feeling his eyes closing as the potion worked.

"Why were you teaching him that?"

"He wanted to learn. I don't think he is old enough. His magic hasn't settled enough yet."

Severus ran his hand up and down his thigh and Harry opened his eyes slightly to look at the man, but Harry could tell the man was thinking with a faraway look in his eyes.

"You would have better luck," Harry said softly.

Severus started and looked over at him.

"You must be tripping on that potion," Severus sneered. "I don't have light magic."

Harry gave him a grin and patted his leg before pulling himself up and crawling under the covers on the bed before he could fell asleep on the floor.

"Coming up here?" Harry asked and Severus gave him a grin before joining him.

Harry settled in as Severus curled along his back and tangled his legs with his as he wrapped an arm around his middle and he was asleep quickly.

xXx

Ry made his way down to Snape’s office unsure about what the man wanted as he knocked on his door nervously. He'd made sure he had seen his father and apologised for what happened but his father had just laughed it off and said they would try again when he was older.

“Come in.”

Ry opened the door to find both Snape and Dracka waiting for him.

“Come here, Potter.” Snape said and waved him to the chair in front of his desk next to the vampire.

Ry shut the door and felt a silencing charm go up behind him, which just increased his nervousness. He took the seat in front of his Professors.

“Okay Mr Potter.” Snape said softly. “Dracka is here to look at this horcrux of yours. We have picked tonight since your father is at the German Ministry.”

“You want to keep this a secret from Dad?” Ry asked unsure.

“Yes,” Dracka said with a dark smile. “Now young Potter look at me.”

Ry looked over at the vampire and flinched back at the man’s red eyes but he didn’t look away.

“I can see the dark magic,” Dracka said. “But it’s just tied up in the scar. There's no dark magic at his core.”

Both Severus and Ry frowned and a look passed between them.

“Are you sure?” Severus asked sitting forward in his seat.

“Yes,” Dracka said frowning looking between them. “Only pure light magic at his core.”

“How can that be possible, Snape?” Ry asked of his Professor. “Dad…”

Dracka looked between the two of them with a frown.

“Am I missing something?” Dracka asked slowly.

“Um,” Ry said then looked away blushing.

“Severus?” Dracka asked the other man.

Severus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, reminding Ry of his father.

“Blake Sun and Harry Potter are the same person,” Severus said slowly.

Dracka laughed but then realised that the other two weren’t laughing as well.

“That’s impossible!” Dracka said, looking between them. “Blake has as much dark magic at his core as light! Mr Potter is different! Their scents are different. How can they be the same person?"

“That’s what we don’t understand,” Severus said softly. “Blake Sun is Harry Potter from the future.”

“Could the deathly hallows change a person’s core?” Ry asked softly.

“Not that much,” Dracka said slowly. “It would take hundreds of years…Holy fuck.”

Severus smirked. “Welcome to the club.”

“Blake is…” Dracka trailed off.

“Me.” Ry finished.

“But you look different…”

“Blake changed time,” Severus explained. “He said that the minute that he stepped into this time that his presence alone changed the timeline.”

“The theory is there.” Dracka agreed, his eyes wide. “But the dark magic he holds, it is his magic and not just the hallows. It is entwined as much at his core as his light power. You have just light power, Mr Potter. The deathly hallows still couldn't have changed him that much.”

"We are that different?" Ry asked softly.

"Yes!" Dracka said. "Your scents are similar but different, I thought it was just the Potter blood. Family members have similar scents…It must have been more than just the hallows that changed him. Your core Mr Potter, looks completely different to Blake's core."

Severus sighed.

"We can only guess what has changed him," Severus replied. "I doubt Blake would tell us."

"Or he would," Ry said with a smirk. "And we could be there for a month."

Severus's lips twitched and Ry gave the man a smirk before the room fell into silence as Dracka just looked between the two.

“Dad said he had to die to break the horcrux,” Ry said softly after a couple of minutes of silence.

Dracka nodded his head.

“Then the hallows brought him back,” Severus said softly.

Dracka sat back in his seat thinking. “The dying thing would work to break the horcrux. That's why items and not living things are used to contain a horcrux.”

“I don’t want to die!” Ry yelped, jumping to his feet.

“You are not going to die, Ry.” Snape said softly and glared over at Dracka.

“But he said!”

“If Blake was able to break the horcrux," Dracka said softly. "You can too Mr Potter."

“Without killing him?” Severus questioned, his eyes intense.

“We would have to train your mind,” Dracka said looking at the pale student. “You would have to work on isolating the dark part that is the horcrux.”

“And that would save me?” Ry asked, taking a seat again.

“The killing curse would still have to hit you,” Dracka said. “And the Dark Lord would have to cast it.”

“A link once formed, can be broken.” Severus said softly, quoting Blake.

“Yes,” Dracka agreed.

“But how do I come back?” Ry asked.

Severus and Dracka shared a look.

“They are the same person…” Severus trailed off.

“But the dark magic?” Dracka said frowning. “You know he pulls on that magic first and doesn't touch his light power, it could block him.”

“Is there a way to take that away from him?” Severus asked.

Dracka smiled widely his fangs showing. “I can think of a way.”

Severus paled.

“I don’t understand?” Ry said breaking the silence.

The two men turned to the boy and he pulled back in his seat at the look in the men’s eyes.

“First you need to work on isolating that dark curse, young Potter.” Dracka said with a smirk. “Let us work on the other part of the puzzle.”

Severus got up and moved around the table and knelt in front of Ry, making the boy even more nervous.

“Work on this and we will work on pulling you back.” Snape said softly and laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Okay?”

Ry nodded his head unable to speak as Snape smiled at him and patted his shoulder.

“Okay, we'll start tonight.” Severus said standing. “You can't tell your father about this, understand?”

Ry nodded and Snape smiled again making Ry shiver.

xXx

Harry could almost weep when he saw the castle as he appeared before the gates of Hogwarts. After spending two days in meetings with the German Ministry about werewolf rights he was beyond happy to get home. At least he’d had Remus with him, but that also meant he'd had to work as translator for most of the meeting.

Harry limped down the hallways, the castle dark and quiet around him, making it feel spooky without students running around. He quickened his steps and made it to his door quickly. He opened the door quietly to see Severus sitting on his lounge with a book in his hands but with a faraway look in his eyes as he stared off into space.

“Hey,” Harry said softly, startling the man. “Off with the fairies there?”

“Off with the…muggle expression?” Severus asked as Harry moved through to the kitchen and flicked the kettle on, for tea before he headed to bed.

“Yeah,” Harry said, around the door. “Deep thoughts.”

“Yes,” Severus agreed. “I was thinking through a problem.”

“Anything I can help you with?” Harry asked as he limped back into the room with two mugs of tea.

“Ah,” Severus said. “No, it’s nothing. I’ll work it out.”

“I’m sure you will,” Harry said with a smirk. “You're a smart cookie.”

“Oh, shut it you.” Severus snapped back.

Harry just grinned.

“How did the meetings go?” Severus asked, placing his book to the side.

“Not bad,” Harry replied. “Remus makes very good arguments, he should have been a lawyer. Glad to be home again.”

Severus looked him over with dark eyes and Harry frowned.

“What?” Harry asked.

Severus got up and moved over to the seated man and reached out a hand.

“What?” Harry repeated.

Severus smiled down and just held out his hand. Harry put his tea to the side and took the man’s hand. Severus pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. Harry's frown deepened as he held the man. Severus buried his face in his neck his arms tight around him.

“Severus?” Harry asked softly. “What’s wrong?”

“Sh,” The man whispered in his ear and kissed his neck.

Harry pushed Severus back and looked up at him, his eyes locking with the other man’s. He could feel the man's shields in place around his mind as much as he knew Severus could feel his own. Severus grabbed Harry’s hands and stepped them back towards the bedroom. Harry moved back with him unsure but trusting his lover.

Once they were in the bedroom Severus lent down and kissed him gently, running his hand under Harry’s shirt and pulling him closer. Harry kissed his neck, resting his hands on Severus’s slim waist.

Severus backed them up towards the bed, slipping Harry’s shirt off as he shrugged out of his robes. Harry let him, feeling a little put out but following the man’s lead. He could feel Severus's need this, for whatever that reason was. He reached forward and grabbed Severus’s belt pulling the man forward as he fell back on the bed.

Severus braced his hands on either side of Harry's body as he grinned down at the smaller man. Harry smiled back as dark eyes roamed over his form before the man quickly undid his belt and Harry lifted his hips so he could push his pants down. Harry’s cock was half hard as Severus shrugged out of his shirt and slipped out of his pants.

Harry quickly kicked his shoes off as Severus attacked his nipples making him groan as the man palmed his cock before played with his balls. Rolling them in his hand. Severus pulled back and looked down at him, his black eyes intense, making Harry shiver and his cock twitch.

Severus gave him a smile and moved down his body before grabbing his hips and lowering himself onto Harry’s cock.

“Oh god,” Harry gasped and tangled his hands into the sheets beside him to stop himself grabbing the other man.

He panted as Severus licked up his cock before taking it into his mouth again making Harry groan, his body tense. Severus licked up his length one more time before moving up his body and resting his legs on either side of Harry thighs.

Suddenly Harry felt his cock being grab and guided towards…

“No!” Harry gasped, eyes flying open wide.

Severus froze above him, Harry cock still in his hand. Severus looked down at him, Harry’s cock softening in his hand.

“Sorry,” Harry muttered.

Severus chuckled and Harry turned his head back towards him. He looked up into soft black eyes and he took Harry in a soft kiss as he moved to the side and began working on Harry’s cock again. Severus soon had Harry panting as his cock hardened. He reached over grabbing up the lube, slicking up his hand before rolling on top of Harry and sliding his hand up and down their cocks.

Harry ‘s nails dug into Severus’s back and he was sure he was going to leave marks as he thrust his hips up into the other man’s making Severus groan and pant. Harry lifted his legs and wrapped them around Severus’s waist and pull the man close. Severus removed his hand and thrust down the friction between the two increasing until Severus came with a soft groan his cum added to the slick feeling sending Harry over the edge.

Severus and Harry panted together as Harry unhooked his legs and let them rest against Severus’s sides. Harry flicked his wrist cleaning them up as Severus rolled to the side and curled up next to him with his head resting on Harry’s chest. Harry ran a hand up and down the man’s back loving the feeling of the man’s soft skin under his hand.

“Tell me what happened when you destroyed the horcrux in you?” Severus questioned softly.

Harry frowned and wished he could look into Severus’s face, this was not the question he was expecting.

“Um,” Harry started, gathering his thoughts. “The Dark Lord cast the killing curse and I went to the place in between.”

“Place in between?” Severus asked looking up at him, his dark eyes intense.

“Best label I can give it,” Harry said, his eyes faraway as he thought back. “It’s a place in between somewhere and somewhere else. The Headmaster was there.  He’d died at the tower…we spoke. I don’t remember what we spoke of…”

Harry trailed off as he cast his mind back to a time so long ago, his hand running up and down Severus’s back without thought.

“How did you come back?” Severus said softly.

“Um,” Harry said trying to think. “The part of the Dark Lord’s soul was there, the Headmaster said leave it. Then I was back in my body. Hagrid was carrying me towards the Dark Lord. They thought I was dead, I wasn’t sure myself.”

A shiver went through Severus’s body at his words.

“Do you think the information will help Ry?” Harry asked softly. "Do you have something in mind?"

“I may,” Severus said softly.

“I held the hallows,” Harry said. “I didn’t know it then and it was many years later until I noticed.”

“You didn’t notice at the time?” Severus asked in surprise.

“I was a bit thick when I was young,” Harry said with a grin.

“You said you had children?” Severus questioned, throwing Harry again.

“Yes,” Harry agreed thinking back on his children. “Two boys and one girl. Named one after Albus and yourself. Albus Severus Potter.”

“Me?” Severus asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Harry said, leaning further back in the bed as the memories rolled over him. “You went back to spying for Dumbledore and sacrificed everything. The true extent of what you did didn’t come out until long after you were dead.”

Severus sat up and turned Harry’s head towards him before kissing him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Severus whispered.

Harry grinned up at him.

“You are a different man, Severus.” Harry said softly. “The Snape I knew was cruel and bitter. He would lash out without thought of the people around him. In going back to the Dark Lord, he became darker and he could see no way out. I’m sure he wouldn’t have lived long after the war even if he'd survived the final battle. He was prepared to die to see the Dark Lord fall.”

“Did he see that?” Severus asked. He felt like he was talking about someone else and he supposed, he was.

“No,” Harry whispered. “No, he didn’t.”

They fell into silence for a few minutes.

“I came across his body,” Harry whispered into the silence. “I was seventeen and had lost count of the dead I had walked past before I even got to the greenhouses. Some memories just stick with you, that one did.”

Severus shivered and paled at the words.

“Were you there when the Headmaster died?” Severus questioned.

“Yes,” Harry said softly. “He was dead before the body hit the ground.”

Severus froze, feeling cold. This man had seen so much at such a young age. Then it dawned on Severus what the man had done to save Potter from the same fate. Harry smiled sadly up at Severus.

“From the moment my parents were murdered my life was dark,” Harry said softly. “It was no wonder that the hallows found me.”

Severus ran a hand down Harry’s side pulling him back to the now.

“You’re a good man,” Severus whispered.

Harry gave him a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes as Severus took him in a soft kiss before curling up against him. Harry turned onto his side and Severus tangled his legs with the other man’s and flung an arm over his middle. Harry sighed and moved back until there was no space between them.  Severus pulled him tighter and kissed his neck.

Harry lay awake well after Severus had fallen asleep as memories came back to him of a time that felt like a dream.

xXx

Harry frowned and added another note to the notebook in front of him as he read through the words on the page. He tapped his pen on the page a couple of times before flipping back in the book as his door opened and closed behind him. He flicked back through a few of pages as he could feel Dracka’s presence close by.

“Harry Potter,” Dracka hissed in his ear making him jump.

“For fuck sake!” Harry yelped as he turned on the man.

Dracka stood back and leered at him and Harry felt tempted to wipe that look off the man's face as he glared at the vampire.

“What is wrong with you?!” Harry snapped instead as he picked up his book from the ground.

“You are Harry Potter,” Dracka stated with a smirk.

Harry’s hand froze as he looked over at the man as he smirked at him.

“Are you confusing me with my son again?” Harry replied. “We are different people you know. The age gap and the cane give it away. I don't think he ever recovered from that time you jumped out at him, thinking it was me, when he snuck out after hours.”

Dracka leered and stepped forward until he was touching his leg against Harry’s and Harry had to tilt his head back to look up at him as he leaned back in his seat.

“Ha!” Dracka barked. "I am not confusing you two this time."

“Then what is this about?” Harry snapped.

Dracka leaned forward to rest his hands on the table behind the man his face inches away from his.

“You are Harry Potter,” Dracka whispered.

Harry looked into Dracka’s dark eyes and his lips twisted up.

“Among other names, yes.” Harry replied and gave him a wink. “Who spilled first?”

Dracka just grinned in answer showing fangs and not moving. Harry just looked back calmly.

“Which is something that can’t go passed us,” Harry said softly.

Dracka leaned to the side slightly, exposing his neck briefly, before pulling back and looking down at the seated man.

“One more puzzle piece in the life of Blake Sun?” Dracka questioned with a laugh.

Harry snorted.

“I can still kick your ass, vampire.” Harry said with a grin. “No matter what my name may be.”

“Ha!” Dracka barked and stepped back. “I’ll like to see that.”

Harry gave him a slow smile and leaned back on the table behind him with a glint in his eyes that had Dracka slightly on edge.

“One day, vampire.” Harry muttered. “One day.”

xXx

“Focus, Potter.” Severus muttered as the boy closed his eyes. “Think on the link you have with the Dark Lord and the dark power and think of a gold cage around it.”

Dracka watched the two as they worked.  He was here to see the dark magic to make sure that what the boy was doing was right. So far, they were progressing quickly but they’d had to make sure that Blake didn’t find out, so they'd had to wait for him to leave the castle before they could work.

Severus felt guilty as anything but knew that both Blake and Potter’s lives depended on this. His lover had already shown he was willing to throw himself in front of the killing curse for his son and they couldn’t afford that in the final battle. For the horcrux to be broken the killing curse had to hit Ry and they knew that Blake wouldn't be able to hold himself back and they couldn't afford for Blake to be taken out of the fighting.

“Okay, Ry.” Severus said softly. “That will do for tonight. You are doing very well.”

Potter grinned up at him with bright green eyes and at that moment he reminded Severus of Blake, which made him shiver.

“Off you go,” Severus said and waved his hand.  “Keep practising.”

“Okay, thanks Professors.” Potter said as he grabbed his bag and left the room.

“He's ready,” Dracka said once the boy was gone.

“Yes,” Severus agreed. “He should be able to push the horcrux in front of the killing curse as long as he has warning to prepare himself. We'll keep training with him, to get it perfect. We can't afford for this not to work.”

“Where did Blake go this time anyway?” Dracka asked, sitting back in his seat.

“The States,” Severus replied. “He is still trying to find out why Simpson was exiled.”

“It’s hard to get information out of the states,” Dracka agreed. “They closed their borders after they got independence and even now, it’s hard to get anything out of them. When is he due back?”

“Saturday,” Severus replied. “Potter will be back tomorrow night for another lesson.”

“Good,” Dracka agreed. “One of my spies has reported that Simpson has resurfaced in Germany.”

“Have you called Blake?” Severus asked.

“No, I want to talk to him in person and see what move he wants to make.”

“How old are you Dracka?”

“What?” Dracka questioned, looking taken a back.

“I know you are an elder vampire,” Severus said slowly. “But you look to Blake for battle tactics and direction.”

Dracka grinned.

“Just over a hundred,” The vampire answered. “I’m young to be running a Coven and the reason I defer to Blake, is the fact he is a Master.”

“Master?” Severus asked, sitting back in his seat.

“He is what you wizards would call a Dark Wizard,” Dracka stated to say

Severus opened his mouth to refuse that when Dracka held his hand up.

“No, hear me out.” Dracka said. “He holds very powerful dark magic, almost to the level of a Dark Lord and has the age and experience behind it. He knows how to use that dark power more than anyone I’ve seen however he is also what you would call a Light Wizard.”

“How is it that he can be both?” Severus asked, it was a question that had been bothering him for a while.

“That is the question, Severus.” Dracka said. “That’s why he leans more one way than the other.”

“The dark power?”

“Yes,” Dracka agreed. “He has had the years to understand the magic he holds so that he isn’t consumed by it. It is rare to find someone with both dark and light magic. I have never seen someone with the levels that Blake has and it isn’t until he starts throwing that magic around, that you understand how much he has at his disposal. Not to mention the skills, he has worked with that magic for hundreds of years, Severus.”

Severus nodded, they were only just now realising how much knowledge Blake held. The skill he showed, was unlike any he had seen before. For a man that didn’t feel like a wizard, most of the time, and just how easily he was dismissed by other wizards. He also remembered the light magic that Blake had used at the Ministry of Magic, magic that both the Headmaster and himself had been surprised by.

“He is also battle worn,” Dracka continued. “At some point in his life he has controlled armies and drawn up battle plans. He has the skills of a Commander and I’ve seen the way he runs those plans through his mind, looking at them from every direction. Only someone with experience can do that, lots of experience. Those are skills, you can’t just read about, they are learned on the battle field.”

Severus's eyes widened as the words sunk in.

“I’m guessing you haven’t had sex yet?” Dracka asked with a smirk, changing the subject and throwing the other man with the question.

Severus sat up straight in his seat.

“What!” He squeaked.

Dracka smirk widened.

“How?” Severus whispered.

“You haven’t asked him?” Dracka sneered and sat forward in his seat, his eyes glinting in amusement.

“I thought it might have something to do with the torture he suffered,” Severus said softly.

“It may,” Dracka agreed. “But it probably has more to do with the power he holds.”

“I don’t understand,” Severus admitted and hated that he had to say those words.

“You have had sex with another person with a magical core?” Dracka drawled with a smirk.

“Of course,” Severus drawled back with a sneer and a glare.

“How did your magic behave?” Dracka asked

Severus flopped back in his seat, it had never crossed his mind and by the look on Dracka’s face he was enjoying this, way too much. For two people with magical cores to be that intimate their magic would also mingle briefly. For most witches and wizards, it wasn’t too much of a problem, however for Blake…

“He's been protecting me?” Severus whispered.

Dracka laughed but it wasn’t in a mocking way.

“Give him time and it won’t be a problem,” Dracka said softly before standing. “I’ll see you tomorrow night for Potter’s lesson?”

“Yes,” Severus said distracted. “Good night.”

“Good night, Severus.”


	11. Chapter Twenty Seven

Harry flopped down on his bed in his own room back home at Hogwarts, he had headed straight to the shower when he had gotten back and was glad that classes were on so he didn’t have to deal with the noise. It had taken three days to get the information that he needed. They had not wanted to give it to him and in the end, he had agreed in sending Simpson’s body back to the states if he ended up killing him and after looking at the file he had received. He could understand why they wanted proof of his death.

He wiggled under the covers of the bed and was quickly asleep.  It was the feeling of someone running their hands over his head that woke him some time later. Harry blinked his eyes open to see Severus sitting next to him on the bed.

“I’m glad it’s you and not the vampire,” Harry said tiredly. “I would have cursed him so badly he wouldn’t have been able to sit for a week.”

Severus’s rumbling laugh rolled over Harry making him shiver and his cock to take notice.

“Are you coming to bed?” Harry asked, with a sly smile.

“I still have two classes,” Severus replied with a smirk.

“And your point is?” Harry said with a wink.

Severus’s eyes darkened as he looked down at him and Harry rolled onto his back with a grin. Severus slipped out of his robes surprising Harry as the other man quickly pulled his black shirt off and slipped out of his slacks until he stood naked in front of him.

Harry’s eyes darkened as they roamed over the other man’s body as he slipped out of the bed and stood in front of the taller man, his head titled up to look the man in the eyes. Severus smiled down at him softly before pulling him forward for a kiss.

Harry turned them so that Severus’s back was to the bed and stepped forward. Severus’s knees hit the bed and he fell back onto the mattress. Harry knelt down and grabbed the man’s knees before he could pull himself completely on the bed.

Severus raised himself up on his elbows and looked down at Harry between his legs. When Harry took his cock in his mouth, he flopped back on the bed with a moan. Harry gently pushed the man’s knees further apart as he moved between them licking up the underside of the man’s cock before taking it in his mouth again as he played with his balls, rolling them in his hand as he held Severus's hip down with one hand.

He could hear Severus panting and groaning above him as he worked, the cock rock hard in his mouth. He knew Severus wouldn’t be far off when he pulled back.

Severus raised his head to look down at him, cheeks slightly flushed and eyes dark.

“Come up here,” Severus purred.

Harry grinned and moved up onto the bed, his knees on each side of Severus’s hips as he looked down at the man. He ran his hands up the man’s stomach and chest loving the feel of the soft skin under his hands. He moved up the man’s body until he could take the man in a kiss.

Severus suddenly curled his hand around Harry’s cock his hand slicked with lube and Harry groaned. Harry could feel the pleasure building in his stomach as Severus slowly tugged on his cock and Harry moved to lay beside the taller man so he could reach Severus and very quickly both men were coming.

“So,” Harry said softly. “You have a class?”

Severus chuckled softly sending a shiver down Harry’s spine as Harry cast the spell to clean them up.

“I just finished with seventh year Gryffindor and Slytherin class when I noticed your bag in the living room.” Severus said stretching out on the bed as Harry curled into his side.

“I can understand why you needed a stress reliever then,” Harry laughed.

“I wasn’t expecting you back until tomorrow?” Severus asked.

“I finally got the information I needed. So, didn’t feel like sticking around,” Harry said, running his hand up and down Severus’s side.

“They told you to leave, didn’t they?” Severus asked with a smirk.

“Ah,” Harry said, then grinned. “Maybe.”

Severus laughed and pulled himself to his feet, Harry’s eyes watching him as he dressed.

“Dracka needs to talk to you when you feel up to it,” Severus said as he straightened his robes.

“I’m a little concerned with the amount of talking you two seem to be doing,” Harry commented lightly.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Severus purred.

Harry sat up and locked his eyes with Severus, fully alert.

“You two are up to something,” Harry demanded.

Severus just smiled at him.

“Right,” Harry said running a hand over his head. “I suppose, I just have to trust you?”

Severus leaned down and gave him a soft kiss in answer.

“Yes,” Severus purred in his ear.

Harry shivered and looked up into Severus’s dark eyes for a few second before nodding his head slightly.

“I trust you,” Harry whispered.

Severus cupped his face and gave him a soft smile, his black eyes intense.

“Thank you,” Severus whispered back before he turned and left.

If Severus felt he had to keep it from him, then there had to be a very good reason. Harry pulled himself to his feet and dressed, he would rather go back to bed but he had work to do.

xXx

After dinner in his rooms that night Harry made his way up to Dracka’s office on the second floor.  He knocked loudly on the man’s door and entered when he called out. He walked into the office to see Dracka behind the desk marking papers and took a minute to take a mental image of the man.

“Blake,” Dracka greeted. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

“Severus didn’t tell you?” Harry asked as he took a seat across the table from the man.

“No, the bastard.” Dracka cursed.

“I’m surprised,” Harry said with a smirk. “The two of you seem to be talking a lot lately.”

Dracka stilled at the words and Harry gave him a wink.

“I’ve already spoken to Severus about it,” Harry said with a smirk. “If he believes it’s something I shouldn’t know, I trust him. Don’t think for a second that I like it, but I trust Severus.”

“But not me?” Dracka asked softly.

Harry just grinned in answer.

“What did you want?” Harry asked.

“Simpson has resurfaced,” Dracka said and pulled a file from his top drawer and passed it over to Harry.

Harry took it in hand and looked it over, it looked like Simpson had bunkered down in a compound in Germany. The defences looked complete and wards were strong from this report as his mind started to run through plans.

“I finally got the information we need out of the Americans about why the man was exiled,” Harry said. “You are not going to like it. We should invite the Headmaster down for a chat in my rooms.”

“That bad?” Dracka asked.

“Worse.”

xXx

The Headmaster rounded out the group of four in Harry’s rooms as Severus placed a pot of coffee and tea on the table before taking a seat between Harry and Dracka.

“Okay,” Harry started pulling a file out of his bag. “Graham Simpson was exiled from the States for murdering a small town.”

“A small town?” Dracka asked in shock.

Harry nodded. “One hundred and five souls.”

“Oh, god.” The Headmaster gasped. “For what gain?”

“To become a Dark Lord,” Harry replied opening the file on the table. “He had a school friend bring up a protection circle around the town and made his way through the streets murdering every man, woman and child. I have pictures but I wouldn’t advise looking at them.

“From this report, the dark ritual didn’t work. He reached too far without the skill or talent to hold it and it folded in on itself.” Harry summed up. “The back lash knocked him out and the American wizards moved in.”

“Why didn’t they execute him then?” Dracka asked.

“Fear,” Harry replied. “They weren’t sure if the ritual had worked and if they would get a back lash from killing a Dark Lord. From this report they believed that he was partially successful, with enough dark power to be a concern but not enough to be a full Dark Lord. They didn't want to take the risk, so exile was the next best thing.”

“You don’t believe he is a Dark Lord?” Severus questioned.

“I would have felt it, if he was a Dark Lord,” Harry said with certainty. “He could still be a Dark Wizard. I never got close to him during the battle but the question does still stand, that he may not have been there, which really just brings up more questions than answers.”

“What is our move then?” Dracka asked quietly.

“He needs to be taken out,” Harry said firmly. “Before the Dark Lord makes his move.”

“Which will be?” The Headmaster asked quietly.

“Possibly within the next six months,” Harry said firmly “We need to act quickly to take Simpson out.”

“Severus and I could-" Dracka went to say.

“No,” Harry snapped.

“Blake,” The Headmaster said softly. “I could get the Order to look into this compound.”

“They don’t know the language,” Harry pointed out. “Dracka, your men would have better luck to move on this compound without being seen. It's a full moon in four days' time, so a couple of my werewolf contacts would be able to give us an idea of numbers within the compound and we can make a better guess on his support and how to go about this.”

“Wards?” Severus asked softly.

Harry’s eyes locked with Severus.

“I will need to be there to make a gap in the wards,” Harry said softly

“A curse breaker-" Severus started to say.

“Would not be able to bend the wards like I can,” Harry cut in. “Just remember this is just a scouting mission. If we are lucky we can get in and out and they won’t know we were even there.”

“In that case,” Dracka announced. “Severus and I will be more than happy to help you.”

Dracka gave him a wink while Severus nodded his head. Harry sighed rubbing a hand over his head, he knew when he was beat and when he could use the help. He would just have to push his own feelings to the side for this.

“Then I welcome your help.” Harry said reluctantly. “Dracka get into connect with you men and scope out this compound, be very careful. If Simpson has already moved to the level of a Dark Lord he may be able to pick up on any vampire. I’ll get in contact with the werewolves in Germany to meet in two days. Albus I will make up a warning stone for you, in case something happens here and we need to move back quickly.”

“My men,” Dracka started. “Have already reported the size of the compound in that report, they haven’t had any trouble moving around.”

“Okay, we'll take that as a good sign then.” Harry said. “I’ll read through this. Keep your men in the area and watch for movements. Can they confirm that Simpson is there?”

“Yes,” Dracka replied. “There are also anti apparation and portkey wards. Only way in and out that they can tell is from a staging point to the east of the compound.”

Harry looked closely at the map, running his hand over the lay out of the compound from both the air and ground.

“You have an animagus?” Harry asked.

“Yes, lovely woman that can change into a hawk.” Dracka agreed. “She has been watching from the air.”

“Are there wards against animagus?”

“Not that we have found.”

“Would Black be able to spare some time?” Harry asked the Headmaster.

“I will ask him, my boy.” The Headmaster said with a smile.

“You know Lupin will follow Black,” Severus pointed out.

Harry grinned.

“I can work with one more werewolf,” Harry said darkly.

“If that is all Blake,” Dracka said getting to his feet. “I’ll contact my men.”

“Yes, thank you Dracka.” Harry said with a smile.

The vampire clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder as he walked out.

“I’ll contact Sirius and Remus now, good night boys.” Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Thanks, Albus.”

“Good night, Albus.”

Harry tapped his pen on the table looking over Dracka’s report as Severus made another mug of coffee. The man was camped out in an old warehouse district outside of Berlin. It looked like it had once made cars but had shut down when the manufacturer had folded over twenty years ago. There was only one road in and one road out and the wards started two meters back from the first building. The one up side that Harry could see was it was set back from the main roads and had a scattering of trees around the buildings.

“Dracka’s animagus has done a great job of these and isn’t too bad at drawing,” Harry said as he scattered the maps across the table and looked down at them.

Severus stood and moved beside Harry to get a better look at the maps. The animagus had supplied maps from both the air and ground and had neatly labelled each building, with written notes on the sides of the paper with number of people but couldn’t tell if they were wizards or had creature blood. It gave them a really rough idea of what they might face and Harry didn't like the numbers if they were found out.

“Dracka’s vampires and the werewolves,” Harry said quietly. “Should be able to sniff out anyone with creature blood in the compound.  I’ll have to move outside the Hogwarts wards to work on some Concealment Pendants so that they can move through the compound without being noticed.”

“Concealment Pendants?” Severus questioned.

“Oh,” Harry twisted around and looked up at Severus. “I forgot. They haven’t been invented yet. Oops.”

Severus barked a laugh.

“It’s a little hard to keep track of what has and hasn’t been invented,” Harry said, distractingly. “It’s a bit annoying when I go looking for something, then remember that it doesn’t exist yet. I’m just really glad that mobile phones exist now, even if they aren’t smart yet and require a shrinking charm and a connection charm to work correctly.”

Harry gave Severus a wink but the man just looked confused, Harry patted him on the leg.

“Don’t worry, dear.” Harry said with a smirk. “You'll understand one day.”

“Watch it, Sun.” Severus snapped.

Harry gave a laugh.

“I’ll just call my werewolf contacts in Germany,” Harry said pulling his phone. “This might take a little while.”

Severus gave him a quick kiss before moving over to the lounge and pulling out a potion's text as the other man’s voice rolled over him as he spoke German flawlessly into the phone.

xXx

Severus made his way towards the front gates of the school the next morning. He had woken early to find Blake already gone, which was surprising. The man normally liked to sleep in until Severus got up before rising as well. He grew concerned when he focused on the man’s ring and it led him towards the gates of the school.

He found Blake in a clearing outside the wards of the school sitting on the ground in just a shirt and pants and no shoes. He had his legs crossed with his cane beside him and his dark wand held carelessly in his hand with his eyes closed. Severus moved closer and noticed the circle on the ground around Blake and a few pieces of metal scattered before him. He leaned against a tree and watched the man work.

It was in moments like these that he wished he could see magic the way Blake and others could, he could feel the man’s magic but not what he was doing. It was interesting to watch since most of the time Blake didn’t even feel like a wizard and it wasn’t until he started using his magic that it became apparent the amount of power he held.

Blake was muttering something under his breath as he worked but Severus was too far away to hear the words but he was sure he wouldn’t have understood them anyway. The man flicked the wand in his hand and frowned and Severus watched as the pieces of metal before him started glowing softly before disappearing completely.

Blake opened his eyes and leaned back stretching his back, making Severus’s mouth water slightly at the sight. His eyes darkening as Blake pulled a leather bag from his pocket and started picking up something that Severus couldn’t see off the ground and placing them into the bag before pulling his shoes back on.

“Need a hand?” Severus purred, when the man leaned back on his hands on the ground.

Blake’s head whipped around in surprise before he grinned up at him.

“I think,” Blake said softly. “I am getting used to your presence, Severus.”

Severus stepped forward unsure about what the man meant as Blake broke the protection circle around him and used his cane to get to his feet. Severus noticed the way the man felt like a muggle again as the feeling of his magic seem to disappear.

“Why don’t you feel like a wizard?” Severus asked as he stepped close to the man.

“What?” Blake asked, eyes wide.

“I know I’m not good at sensing out magic,” Severus admitted. “But I can tell when someone has magic in a crowd. You mostly feel like a muggle.”

“Do I?” Blake asked in surprise. “I didn’t know that.”

“He is talking about the way you hold your magic, Blake.”

Severus and Blake turned to Dracka as the vampire made his way towards them, keeping to the shadows and wearing a thick, black, long coat that covered most of his body.

“I didn’t realise I was so easy to find,” Blake muttered.

“With the magic you were throwing around,” Dracka laughed and leaned back on one of the trees in the shadows.

“The Headmaster even mentioned that he couldn’t feel much of your magic the first time you came to the school,” Severus mentioned.

“Really?” Blake said looking confused, he turned to the vampire with an eyebrow raised in question.

Dracka laughed. “I can feel the dark magic, if I’m looking for it or your concentration wavers.”

“Um,” Blake muttered looking between the two men. “How about now?”

Suddenly Blake felt like a normal wizard and it made Severus gap.

“How do you do that?” He demanded as Dracka laughed.

“Um,” Blake said, rubbing a hand over his head. “I just loosened my hold a little. I guess I’m just used to holding onto the dark magic of the hallows that I didn’t realise I was holding all of my magic that way.”

Dracka barked a laugh as Severus just shook his head.

“What were you doing out here anyway?” Dracka asked.

“Concealment pendants,” Blake replied, holding up the leather pouch. “These will help us move through the compound. They have limitations but as long as you stick to the shadows we should be able to gather the information we need without being detected. No, Dracka you can’t have them.”

Dracka frowned.

“The magic won’t stick,” Blake explained. “They will only last a day after I activate them.”

“Even with the amount of magic you put into them?” Dracka asked.

“Yes,” Blake laughed. “Even then. Come on, let’s head up to the castle, I’m starved.”

Blake took Severus’s hand in his and they made their way up to the castle leaving Dracka behind to find his own way up.

xXx

Severus didn’t see much of Blake throughout the day as he moved from class to class and when he did the man was on his phone or talking to Dracka. He wouldn’t admit it out loud but the stab of jealousy that would run through him at the sight of his lover and the vampire surprised him. He chalked up to the way the two men moved together as if they were more than just friends as he took his seat at the Head Table that night. It normally didn't bother him but every now and again it would.

“Here,” Dracka said, giving Severus a small piece of metal on a leather cord. “Blake said to put this on and keep it under your shirt. I’ve given the Headmaster the two for the werewolf and the animagus.  They should be here by tomorrow morning. We move out at ten.”

“Is Blake still here?” Severus asked frowning, the man always made sure to tell him when he had to leave but he had been busy.

“He’s up in the tower,” Dracka whispered. “Doing god only knows what.”

“Really?” Severus asked, surprised that the man would go all the way up there with that many stairs.

Severus focused on the ring and could feel that he was up in the tower of the school, in fact the highest point that you could get to. He felt a slight brush of Blake’s magic in return and smiled.

“Told you,” Dracka said with a smirk. “I have my men in place and Blake’s werewolves will be moving into place to wait for us to arrive. That gives us two days to plan.”

“Doesn’t sound like a lot of time,” Severus muttered.

“Yes,” Dracka replied, taking a sip of his coffee. “I don’t like it, but I have looked over Blake’s plans and they are sound. We can’t wait another month for the full moon to come back around. Simpson could move or go to ground again. This is our best chance to get an idea of his support.”

The two men turned back to their dinner and if Severus kept checking in on Blake as the man worked it was just to make sure that he was safe and no other reason.  By the way the other man’s magic responded he didn’t seem to mind.

xXx

Severus woke to the feeling of someone sitting on the bed and turned to see Blake’s naked back in the soft light of the room.

“Hey,” Severus said sleepily as he rolled towards him.

“Sorry, I woke you.” Blake said with a small smile. “You sleep way too lightly.”

“You’re not much better,” Severus pointed out.

Blake gave him a grin, before joining him under the covers. Severus pulled him tight and gave him a kiss.

“What were you doing up in the tower?” Severus asked as he pulled the man tight against him, his cock taking an interest.

“Um,” Blake said softly placing a kiss on Severus’s neck. “Checking the wards of the school. I wanted to check how high above the castle the wards stretched.”

“Is that so?” Severus asked running his hand down the man’s side to his hip and grabbed his ass in his hand.

“Yeah,” Blake muttered, kissing along Severus’s neck. “When Robbie used that rocket launcher on the giant I wanted to make sure that the wards would force back that kind of attack. Oh god.”

Blake’s words ended in a gasp as Severus’s mouth closed over his nipple and bit down softly. Blake rolled onto his back as Severus covered his body with his own. He held Blake’s hips as he worked down the man’s body nibbling along his ribs. Blake suddenly grabbed his ass and pulled him close. Severus paused and looked up at the man in question.

Blake smirked up at him his green eyes wide as they looked at Severus intensely.

“Top or bottom?” Blake asked softly.

Severus’s cock twitched at the question and he took the man in a hard kiss, moving his legs to either side of Blake’s hips in answer. One of the man’s hands disappeared then reappeared quickly slicked up as he ran the hand down his ass. Severus gasped, as he was breached by Blake’s finger and the man pulled his head down and bit softly into his neck to distract him.

Severus pushed back on the fingers as Blake worked quickly and with skill. The man had done this before and knew exactly what he was doing, which kind of surprised Severus.

“Ready?” Blake whispered in his ear and Severus shivered and nodded. “Tell me if it’s too much?”

“Hurry up, Sun!” Severus snapped.

Blake chuckled sending a jolt through Severus. Blake carefully rolled them until he was above the younger man, his eyes dark, as he flashed him a grin. He took Severus in a hard kiss before pushing forward with his cock. Severus gasped at the slight pain and could feel magic brushing against his skin.

Blake pulled back and looked down at him and gently encouraged Severus to wrap his legs around his waist. Severus looked up at the man seeing the magic around him for the first time and he gasped.

“Okay?” Blake questioned as he held still.

Severus could only nod and then Blake was moving and the magic was swirling around them. He could tell that the other man was trying hard to keep a hold of it and Severus could understand why it had taken so long to get to his point. The magic brushed against Severus as Blake grabbed his cock pumping it in time to his thrusts as pleasure rolled down his back as the man hit his prostate. Severus reached up and pulled the man close as his nails dug into his back.

Blake gasped as he worked on Severus’s cock and then Severus was coming and Blake groaned as he tipped over the edge. His magic running down Severus’s spine making him groan loudly and rolling the man until he was above him and attacking his neck.

He pulled back and looked down at the man below him as he looked up with slightly glowing green eyes seeing the magic swirling around him in equal parts dark and light. The man was beautiful even with the faded scars running down his arms, his skin seemed to glow from the magic.

“Is this what you see?” Severus gasped.

“Look at yourself?” Blake whispered, instead of answering.

Severus looked down and for the first time in his life he was able to look into his core. Yes, he knew how to pull magic for spell work and how much but had never been able to ‘see’ the magic. He could see the swirling rainbows of his magic and the dark strands twisting around it. He looked at his hands and dark magic swirled to his fingertips.

“Dark magic?” Severus gasped.

Blake reached up and grabbed his hands, the magic around his own hands mixing with Severus’s magic, more dark than light.

“From being a death eater?” Severus asked.

“No,” Blake said softly, looking up at him. “That is your magic, Severus.”

Severus just looked at his hands as he saddled the other man’s waist. Slowly the magic started to settle around them and disappear but Severus could still feel the dark magic at his core as Blake held his hands. Now that he was aware of it, he couldn’t ignore it.

“I never…” Severus whispered.

“I know,” Blake said softly.

“You knew,” Severus questioned as his eyes locked with Blake.

“Having dark magic doesn’t make you evil, Severus.” Blake said softly as he wiggled so he could sit up in front of the other man, still holding his hands. “It can attract you to other sources of dark magic.”

“The Dark Lord,” Severus whispered.

“And me,” Blake said and Severus’s eyes snapped to his.

Blake just smiled at him softly, his eyes guarded.

“That’s why it’s taken so long for us to get to this point?” Severus asked.

“In part yes,” Blake admitted. “The other part was I was scared.”

Severus’s eyes widened, he had never heard this man admit to being afraid.

“What?” Severus gasped.

“I was afraid of the way you would react,” Blake said looking away. “I believed when you saw the magic and I explained that you would believe the only reason that you are attracted to me is because of the dark magic.”

“You're an idiot,” Severus snapped, cupping the man’s face and turning it so he could look into Blake’s wide eyes. “I love you, you idiot.”

Blake’s eyes flicked between his before he smiled. “I didn’t realise this was going to get so sappy…I love you too.”

Severus pulled the man into a hard kiss before pinning the other man to the bed.

“My turn now,” Severus purred in Blake’s ear making the man shiver.


	12. Chapter Twenty Eight

“Oh god,” Dracka gasped. “You had sex.”

Severus turned to the vampire with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah, I mean…” Dracka trailed off. “No that’s what I meant. You stink of Blake’s magic. He’s going to have to sort that out before we get to the compound.”

Severus had been waiting in the entrance hall for everyone else to arrive when Dracka had appeared.

“Which I will,” Blake said limping closer, holding out another pendant on a leather cord. “Lean forward Dracka.”

Dracka looked puzzled but did as ordered and Blake looped the cord over his head, the vampire shivered and looked at the pendant with wide eyes.

“Don’t let it touch your skin,” Blake snapped as the vampire reached for it. “It's made with pure light magic so it will burn you.”

“What is it?” Severus asked.

“It will allow him to walk in the sun,” Blake replied with a smirk. “It will only last a week. So, you better work on your tan quickly, Dracka.”

“Ha, ha.” The man said staring down at the pendant in wonder.

“Ah, I see we are all here.” Albus said as he moved out of the Great Hall with Black, Remus and Ry on his heels.

Ry dashed forward and gave his father a hug.  Blake grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair and Severus sneered as it spiked it up in a mess.

“How come I can’t come?” Ry asked, with a pout.

“Because you are a child,” Severus purred.

“I’m an adult now!” Ry snapped back to Severus.

“And yet still a student of this school, Mr Potter.” Albus said resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Plus,” Blake said with a smirk. “Just remember, you won’t have potions with Snape for a whole week. Hey!”

Blake yelped when Severus smacked his arm.

“Behave, Mr Sun.” Severus purred.

Blake just grinned as the others watched them in amusement.

“Now Ry,” Blake said turning to his son. “You have an important job, you have to keep the school safe, okay?”

Ry pouted even more as he glared at his father.

“But dad…” Ry whined.

“Come on, Mr Potter,” The Headmaster said. “I’m sure I can use your help with some charms on a new classroom.”

The Headmaster turned the boy away with a hand on his shoulder, giving Blake a wink over Potter's head.

“Good luck, Dad.” Ry called over his shoulder.

“I think it's Potter that needs the luck,” Severus muttered into Blake’s ear. “The Headmaster just got a new supply of Lemon drops.”

Blake grinned before turning to Black and Remus.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Blake said softly. “We should be leaving now. It will take a while to get to the safe house.”

xXx

It had taken them until well into the afternoon to get to the safe house in Germany and Dracka had taken off as soon as they got there to talk to members of his team. Remus and Sirius had settled into the larger room at the back of the house since it had two beds while Harry and Severus settled into the smaller room with only one very small bed.

“Will that even hold both of us?” Harry asked.

“You are a wizard, Sun.” Severus sneered, looking through his bag.

“I don’t like sleeping on charmed beds.” Harry said, eyeing it off. “Makes me itchy.”

Severus chuckled. “We’ll make it work then.”

Harry threw him a smile.

“I better put up some wards before we call it a night,” Harry said looking around. “It will be a busy day tomorrow.”

Severus turned and stalked towards him, Harry tilted his head back and returned the other man’s kiss.

“Oh,” Harry said as he pulled back. “I should probably remove the magic clinging to you as well.”

Harry smirked seeing their combined magic coating the other man’s skin marking him as his, most wizards wouldn't be able to pick up on it but anyone with creature blood would.

“What do you see?” Severus went to ask. “Ah, forget that question. I give up with trying to understand you and magic.”

Harry laughed and with a hand brushed the magic off the man’s skin. The magic fell away like he was brushing off dust. He could still feel Severus’s own magic on his skin but he left it there, it would make it easier for him to find the man if he needed to and he could cover it up without a problem. With a last kiss he moved out of the room to set up the wards.

The next day went past in a blur as Harry worked out plans and made sure that everyone knew what they were doing and where they had to be the next night. They were planning on moving on the compound at just past midnight the next night. The guards on duty should be getting sleepy at that point and it gave the Concealment Pendants a better chance to let everyone blend into the back ground as they worked. The full moon was a upside for the werewolves but a down side for the added light.

From all the reports coming in, Simpson didn’t have much support at the compound and Harry hadn’t told Severus and Dracka that if he had a chance to take Simpson out that he would take it. He had worked on hit teams before and he wasn’t going to let an opportunity pass him by.

He had his muscle potion ready to go the next day and was looking forward to being able to move almost like normal again, if only he could get the potion right to use it all the time instead of just for twenty-four hours but at least it was progress. With Severus's help they had gotten further than Harry had without him.

Harry had given them a day to move towards the compound and had the werewolves and vampires coming after nightfall, he didn’t want them in place before and run the chance of tipping Simpson off. He should really head to bed but his mind kept running through his plans looking for any loopholes. He would have Dracka look them over when he got back just in case.

He tapped his pen against the table as he reread the reports just in case he missed something. Dracka was still out and Remus and Sirius were talking quietly in the next room. He wasn’t sure where Severus was and used the ring to find the man in their room doing something. The man’s magic brushed him back and he smiled. He was sure that Severus didn’t even know he was doing that as he turned back to his work.

“Did you call me?” Severus asked.

Harry jolted and looked up at the man.

“Oh, sorry.” Harry said softly. “Did you feel that?”

“Yes,” Severus replied, sitting next to him at the table. “Felt odd.”

Harry sat back in his seat and looked at the man.

“I was using the link between us to see where you were,” Harry said, showing the man the ring. “You haven’t felt that before?”

“Not like that,” Severus whispered. “That was different…”

“That’s interesting,” Harry mused. “Nothing to worry about though, probably just a by-product.”

“Has this happened before?”

“Um,” Harry said, thinking back. “Not that I can think of, it might just be because of the connection in the ring as well.”

“What about with your wife?”

Harry laughed. “Ginny wouldn’t have noticed if magic wacked her over the top of her head.”

Severus paled. “You married Ginny Weasley?”

“Oops,” Harry smirked.

“Does that mean Potter will…”

“Ha!” Harry laughed. “I’m not sure Ry would even notice if Ginny threw herself at the boy fully naked and covered in whipped cream.”

“Ah, yes.” Severus smirked. “He does seem a little clueless.”

“I don’t think it helps that we are together,” Harry said softly. “Not to mention the fact that I used to be Harry Potter.”

“I can understand how that would confuse the boy,” Severus said with a soft laugh.

“He’ll get past it once he understands that we are not the same person,” Harry mused, sitting back in his seat.

Severus looked at him with dark eyes.

“Plus, he is still a child.” Dracka stated, coming into the room.

“Have you just been standing out there, listening?” Severus asked of the vampire.

Dracka flashed his fangs at the man as he collapsed in one of the seats.  Harry pushed his plans before the man for him to look over as he got up to make a coffee. He limped back to the table with three mugs, as Dracka looked through the plans.

“Can you only make one gap in the wards?” Dracka asked. 

He didn’t like the fact everyone except the animagi had to go through one gap.

“Yes,” Harry replied. “I don’t like it either but it’s the best I can do. Any more than that and they will know that I’m bending the wards. Now if we breach here…”

xXx

The next night found a sad group of people, vampires, wolves, a dog and a hawk waiting in the pouring rain in the woods to the north of the compound. Harry had already activated the Concealment Pendants and the magic buzzed on the surface of his skin as they waited for the right time to move.

“Okay,” Harry whispered to the group. “I’ll move forward to bend the wards, Severus watch my back. Once I give the signal move into the compound. This is just a scouting mission people we don’t want any heroes. Follow the plan then get out.”

Murmurs of agreement answered him softly.

“Black I want you to move out now and breach on the Southside. I want you to be seen okay?” Harry ordered.

The dog nodded his head, he was the only one not wearing a concealment pendent but he did have one in his pocket just in case.

“Act like a stray,” Harry reminded the man. “I bet you've had plenty of practise of that.”

Black barred his teeth with a slight growl.  Remus, in wolf form, bumped his shoulder into the dog, unbalancing him slightly with his larger frame.

“Off you go.” Harry ordered, waving his hand.

The dog lopped off into the bush. Harry watched him move off as he moved forward with Severus a step behind. He was lucky that the person that had laid the wards wasn’t battle trained or he wouldn’t have placed the wards so close to the tree line.

Harry moved through the trees, the potion working wonders on his leg, as he was almost able to walk with the grace he'd used to have when he was younger. He waved Severus behind a tree and gestured for him to wait as he crawled forward on the ground, he could see people moving around the compound and didn’t want to be spotted before Black was.

He reached the wards and placed his hand next to the barrier, reaching out with his mind and magic. They weren't strong wards but were strong enough to keep people out and would have taken time and power to pull them down. Harry picked up the wards, shaking his head at the laziness of the wizard that had cast them. They had only made one strand of magic and tied it to Simpson and not the ground. That made it both easier and harder at the same time. To make the gap he had to link himself to Simpson through the wards to keep them ‘alive’ but had to be careful since they weren’t linked to anything else.

Harry carefully grounded himself as he worked quickly to bend the wards around the place he was laying until he made a gap in the wards big enough for two people to stand abreast. He kept the link with Simpson, once he had made the gap, and resisted the temptation to follow it with his mind. He would have time later to do that.

He tied the gap into the ground, placing two rocks on both sides of the gap, as he waited for the guards to notice Black. He knew the minute that Black had been spotted as the few guards around started to float off leaving his side empty of people. He waved over his shoulder at Severus and he rushed back to the people waiting.

Harry moved to the side and pointed to the rocks and signalled two at a time to the group waiting. The wolves rushed through first followed by the rest as they spread out. Dracka gave him a grin as he moved off with Severus. The vampire would look after his lover.

Harry waited to make sure the night was still and quiet before focusing on the link with Simpson, while he kept a look out for trouble. He grinned when he located the man and moved off silently into the night.

xXx

Severus and Dracka moved through the compound, both men not making a sound. The years Severus had been a spy, coming back to him as they hugged a wall waiting for a wizard to walk passed.  Blake’s spell working wonders as the man passed without a glance in their direction. Dracka peeked around the corner and nodded and they headed off, they were tasked with finding Simpson’s office.

They could hear the barking of a dog in the distance as Black drew attention to himself and Severus was sure that the man was made for this kind of assignment. Severus followed Dracka’s lead as the vampire lead him further into the compound and towards the office building to the east.

They stopped and Severus quickly picked the lock on the building’s door, the silver lock picks slicing through any spell work, and flashed the vampire a grin. Dracka flicked him the bird as he moved passed and down the silent hallway, following Simpson’s scent to the man’s office.

Severus made quick work of the lock on the man’s door, again marvelling at the fact that wizards forgot the muggle way of locking when they charmed their doors. It would have taken him more time to work through the charms, as it would be to pick the lock.

They moved into the tasteful office and Dracka moved to the filing cabinet and started to copy the files. Suddenly both men looked over towards the desk as a whiff of magic came across the room.

Severus pointed to the desk.

Dracka nodded and waved him back.

Severus nodded and stood back.

The vampire moved towards the desk and carefully pulled a sliver dagger with a full leather hilt out of his holster as he opened a drawer.

Severus reeled back from the dark magic and moved back towards the door to the office. He knew that kind of magic and it had him paling in remembrance.

Dracka carefully moved things around in the drawer as the demon yelled at him to take the wizard and drain him. He knew his eyes were shinning red and made sure he didn’t look towards Severus. The man’s heartbeat was already calling him as he located the horcrux. He used the silver knife and his hand carefully wrapped in his cloak to pull the silver cup out of the drawer and onto the table.

He pulled a containment jar from his pocket and pushed the cup into it and screwed the top on tightly, sighing when the dark magic cut off sharply. He glanced over at Severus and the man flinched back from his red eyes. He held up the jar before placing it into his pocket and moving back to the files.

Severus watched him from the door as he finished off copying the files and placed them back where he'd taken them from before moving back to the door. Severus relocked the door before they moved out of the building.

They were halfway back to the edge of the wards when Severus stopped and pulled Dracka behind some car parts.

“What is Blake doing?” Severus hissed in the vampire’s ear.

“He should still be where the gap in the wards are,” Dracka hissed back.

“He is doing something,” Severus whispered. “I can feel it.”

“What?”

“I don’t know,” Severus replied. “Should we go after him?”

“Can you tell if he's in danger?”

“He isn’t in danger,” Severus whispered back.

“We move back then,” Dracka said. “He knows what he's doing.”

Severus looked torn but followed the vampire back to the gap in the wards marked out by the two rocks. They slipped back through, his gut churning, as the two moved back towards the safe house. Following orders.

xXx

Harry finished placing a containment charm around the building, to warn him of anyone coming or going as he moved closer. He silently slipped into the warehouse. A shiver running down his spine when he realised he had found Simpson’s followers sleeping area. People were scattered everywhere and snoring rang out throughout the room. He pulled his magic tighter around him so that none of the people would be able to sense him through the Concealment Pendent and carefully picked his way through the men and women around him.

He made his way to an area at the back of the room where a door lay. He silently knelt down and picked the lock as he cast his mind out to the other side.  He could feel Simpson further in than the door so he pushed it open carefully. A hallway greeted him on the other side and he found himself in a small office space with doors on both sides of the hall. He moved along until the link led him to one of the offices.

He placed his ear to the door and listened carefully, he couldn’t hear anything so reached for the door handle and slowly turned it and slipped into the room, closing the door behind him silently. A man lay on the camp bed slightly snoring. He was a short man with a mop of brown hair. He lay with his back faced towards Harry as he carefully moved across the room, only stopping when he saw a chalk line on the floor.

The man had a protection circle around the camp bed he was sleeping on. Harry knelt down and reached out with his magic, very carefully, and brushed it across the ward. Harry cursed silently as there was no way he was bringing that down without waking the man and alerting everyone else in the warehouse behind him.

He very carefully moved his magic through the barrier like mist getting into the very small gaps and stretching them out towards the man. Dark magic was the first thing he touched on, this man was no Dark Lord but he was defiantly a very powerful Dark Wizard.

Harry pulled the magic back very carefully and stood. There was nothing he could do here. He quickly and quietly made his way out of the building and collapsed his ward around the building as he slipped back out into the night feeling cheated. He'd had the man within striking distance but could do nothing about it.

xXx

Severus tapped his wand against his leg as they waited at the safe house. Everyone was back except Blake. Dracka’s men had given their reports quickly and had left leaving just Dracka, Remus, Black and Severus in the house.

“Can you feel any danger Severus?” Dracka asked for the fifth time.

“No,” Severus growled.

“So, he didn’t tell you what he was going to do?” Black questioned.

“No,” Severus said shortly, tapping his wand.

Suddenly Blake rushed into the room, his eyes wide.

“Get your stuff, we need to move now!” Blake cried before moving quickly to the back room.

The others jumped into action.

“Dracka!” Blake called. “Tell your men to scatter. Black change forms and disappear with Remus now!”

“Blake what's going on?” Severus asked.

He quickly shrunk his trunk and Blake’s and placed them in his pocket as the man quickly gathered up any files and shoved them towards Dracka. Yelling suddenly sounded outside and Blake paled as anti-apparation wards flared to life.

“Fuck,” Blake swore. “This is going to hurt. Dracka do you have everything?”

“Yes,” Dracka replied, his eyes red.

“Okay,” Blake looked around and quickly cast a fire spell.

Severus stepped back as fire started eating through the bed they had shared last night before quickly setting alight to everything else. They could hear more yelling outside.

“Okay, okay.” Blake grabbed Severus’s arm in a steel grip and Dracka’s in the other hand. “Get ready to catch me.”

“What-"

Then there was a ripping sensation, fire, yelling and white noise drowning everything else out. Pain spiked through him but he wasn’t sure if it was his pain or someone else’s, then Blake’s body crashed into him and he wrapped his arms around the smaller man as Dracka grunted near him.

“Dracka!” Severus snapped.

The vampire appeared at his side and helped him with Blake’s weight. The man was out cold.

“What happened?” Severus gasped, looking around at the clearing they'd found themselves in.

“He smashed through the anti-apparation wards!” Dracka gasped, with wide eyes. “With three people!”

They slowly lowered the other man to the ground with his back against one of the trees. The man was paper white and sweating slightly.

“No wonder he's out.” Severus said as he checked him over, that’s when he noticed the blood and swore.

He quickly undid the man’s belt.

“Not sure this is the time,” Dracka muttered with a smirk.

Severus glared up at him as the lowered Blake’s pants to reveal the large gash across the scaring from the snake bite on the man’s leg. He heard Dracka curse above him as he pulled a potion from his pocket as Dracka passed him a towel from his trunk.

“Looks like a cutting curse or a sword cut,” Dracka said over his shoulder as Severus cleaned the cut. “They must have hit him from the side.”

“Something must have gone wrong,” Severus agreed, in frustration. “And we weren’t there to help him!”

“We followed orders, Severus.” Dracka said calmly, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. “That’s what he asked of us.”

Severus finished cleaning the gash, he pulled his wand and tried the basic healing charm he knew but it just failed and he frowned. He tried the charm again with the same results as fresh blood started to weep out of the wound. Dracka passed him a couple of bandages and he cleaned off the cut again and wrapped it up tightly. The cut really needed stitches but it looked like this the best they could do until they were able to get him medical attention. Severus quickly finished binding off the wound tightly and pulled the man’s pants back up.

“Do you know where we are?” Severus asked looking around at the clearing. It looked like any other stretch of forest to him.

“No idea,” Dracka replied. “But he brought us here for a reason.”

Blake suddenly started shivering slightly even though it wasn’t cold and Severus frowned in concern.

“We won’t be able to apparate with him like this,” Dracka said. “I’ll have a look around to see if I can find anything.”

“Be careful,” Severus said softly.

Dracka just grinned showing off his fangs as he moved into the night. Severus took a seat on the ground and pulled Blake into his arms and placed his robes over them to try and stop him shivering.

“I’ve found a small house.” Dracka announced, coming back into the clearing sometime later. “I can feel Blake’s magic on the wards.”

Dracka knelt in front of them and placed his hand against Blake’s forehead.

“He’s running a fever,” The vampire said with a frown. "Was he sick before?"

“No," Severus stated. "Give me a hand getting him up and we’ll move to the house.”

“We may not be able to get through the wards, Severus.” Dracka warned as he helped him pull Blake up.

“Not much else we can do,” Severus replied stiffly.

It didn’t take them long to make their way to the small house, more of a cottage than anything else. Severus knew the moment that they came across the wards as Dracka hissed, pulling back slightly. Blake stirred in their grip as the wards touched them.

“Blake!” Dracka hissed. “You have to let us in! Blake!”

Blake groaned and Dracka took more of the man’s weight as Severus moved the man’s hand forward to touch the wards. Green eyes blinked open slightly before he went limp again, against Dracka. Severus quickly got back under his arm.

“Was it enough?” Severus asked.

“Yes,” Dracka replied, stepping forward. “Let’s get him inside.”

They moved into the small house. The living room led into the kitchen to their right and a small study next to that. To the left a door stood open to a bedroom so they moved Blake in that direction. The room was decked out in soft greys and was mainly just a bed and side tables.

They moved Blake to the bed and Severus unbuckled the man’s pants and slipped them down before they sat him on the bed and he was able to take his shoes off. Dracka helped Severus take the man’s shirt off to reveal bruising already coming up on his side.

“Gee, they got him good.” Dracka said as they moved him onto the bed and covered him up with the blanket.

Blake groaned softly and Severus grabbed his hand.

“Blake?” Severus whispered.

“Hey,” Blake whispered back, eyes just slits of green.

“What happened?” Dracka asked, sitting on the bed next to him.

“The wards,” Blake whispered. “They were tied to Simpson instead of the ground. I had to move the link to myself when I made the gap.”

Blake stopped for a minute and closed his eyes, as if in pain.

“When I went to link them back into the wards after closing the gap, they collapsed.” Blake whispered, eyes still closed. “Wasn’t expecting that and the back lash caught me. I think a tree stopped me.”

Severus tightened his grip on his hand.

“I bolted once I could get my feet under me again.” Blake said softly. “Who ties wards to a person and not the ground first? Idiot.”

Dracka snorted and clapped a hand on Blake’s shoulder before leaving the two alone. It had been a bloody long night and he still had to make sure that everyone got away clean.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Dracka said softly as he closed the door behind him.

Severus took his place next to Blake.

“I could feel you doing magic,” Severus said softly. “What were you trying to do?”

“Went after Simpson.”

Blake’s words froze the blood in Severus’s veins and he tightened his hold on his hand.

“Needed to know if he was a Dark Lord,” Blake explained.

“Dracka and I found a horcrux,” Severus whispered.

Blake’s eyes flew open than he groaned and shut them quickly.

“Do you need a pain potion?” Severus asked in concern.

“Yeah, hit that bloody tree hard. Hit my head.”

“You have a nice bruise coming up on your side as well.”

Blake snorted and took the pain potion Severus gave him.

“Can you grab my phone and call Black?” Blake asked looking up with pain filled eyes but at least they were open. “Where’s Dracka?”

“In the other room.” Severus stated, concerned that the other man didn’t realise the vampire had left as he collected Blake’s phone. “There’s no Black in here, is it under Sirius?”

“Annoying bastard,” Blake replied with a smirk.

“Ha!” Severus barked. “Wait, isn’t he is your godfather.”

Blake snorted then winched. “Not my godfather, he's Ry's godfather. The amount of times that man has smashed me up against a wall proves that.”

Severus smirked at him and dialled the man's number.

“Blake! Are you all okay? We saw the house go up in flames!”

Severus held the phone to the side as Black’s voice came through.

“It’s Snape,” Severus said when the man stopped yelling.

“Is Blake okay?” Black asked.

“He’s been injured,” Severus said softly. “Dracka and I made it out okay. Blake wants to know if you two are okay?”

“Oh, yeah.” Black said. “They had werewolves with them but we got away clean.”

“They got out okay,” Severus said to Blake.

“Tell them to get to the German Portkey Platform,” Blake whispered. “There will be a portkey there under my name, code word 'Big Mutts'.”

Severus smirked and relayed the message, then hung up.

“There's a first aid kit in the kitchen, can you grab it please?” Blake asked. “And a glass of water?”

“I’ll be right back,” Severus replied, placing Blake’s phone in his pocket.

He nodded at Dracka as he spoke on the phone, the man flashed him a thumbs up. He searched through the cupboards and drawers until he found a plastic box with muggle first aid supplies in it. He placed it on the bedside table, with the glass of water. Blake pulled himself up into the sitting position and grabbed a bottle out of it and rattled a couple of pills out and took them with water.

“Thanks,” Blake said softly as he wiggled back down into the bed.

Severus quickly undressed and slipped under the covers.  Blake curled up and was out quickly. Sleep took a lot longer for Severus as he listened to Dracka’s voice in the other room.

xXx

Dracka looked around the house in interest the next morning, it had been lived in at some point but not any longer. From the amount of baby gear in one of the bedrooms, he was guessing it was when Harry Potter was a young child. He walked into the man’s office and glanced around. He found a lot of books on time and theories of time travel. He guessed that this was one of the first houses that Blake lived in when he'd come here, which just made him think what time he had come from and whether the man had wanted to go back.

He moved over to the desk and sat in the chair. The desk itself was cleared off, not even a pen on its surface, which was odd for Blake. He opened the drawers and generally just snooped around. He found a small green notebook in the back of one of the bottom drawers and pulled it out.

Blake’s neat script greeted him as he flipped through the pages. It looked like a collection of thoughts of when Blake was Harry Potter and it got him thinking. Did the man need to write it down to remember what happened when he was a child?

He could tell that large sections in the book had been crossed out and rewritten and Blake’s normally neat witting grew sloppy in some places and had arrows crossing over parts and references to other pages. Like the man had gotten frustrated while writing. He frowned as he looked at the pages. He couldn’t work out much in the book, since it seemed to be more random thoughts than in any order.

“Reduced to snooping?”

Dracka looked up to see Severus standing in the doorway his arms crossed over his chest.

“Found his notebook,” Dracka said with a grin. “Looks like the old man had to write down what happened at Hogwarts when he was a child and from the looks of it, he'd had trouble working it all out.”

Severus moved over towards him and Dracka held the book out, the other man took it from his hand before putting it back away in one of the drawers.

“What happened to Blake when he was young is private to him,” Severus said softly.

“It could give a clue about how to kill the Dark Lord,” Dracka pointed out.

Severus raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the table.

“If it could,” Severus said slowly. “Blake would have told us.”

“Do you think our plan will work?” Dracka asked. “That Harry Potter will be able to kill this Dark Lord. He's only a child.”

“With Blake backing him up. We have a chance.” Severus said slowly. “Which is more than Blake had in his time.”


	13. Chapter Twenty Nine

“Snape,” Severus answered the phone.

“Um.”

Severus looked at the phone in his hand before realising he was holding Blake’s phone and not his own.

“Sorry,” Severus replied. “Were you after Blake?”

“Um, yeah.” The voice said. “I’ll call back.”

Then the person hung up.

Severus frowned down at the phone.

“I better give this back to Blake,” Severus said as Dracka started laughing.

Severus gave the other man a glare as he walked into the bedroom to see Blake standing in front of the chest of drawers in only his underwear. The bruise looked like an ink stain down his left side.

“That’s a beauty,” Severus commented.

Blake looked over his shoulder with a sly smile.

“I hope you mean me?” Blake smiled.

Severus smirked and moved closer.

“Your phone,” Severus said and placed it on the chest of drawers. “I answered it thinking it was mine.”

Blake grinned.

“We should get going,” Blake said as he pulled out a shirt and pants from the drawers. “I’ll feel more comfortable once we're back at the school.”

“Do you feel up to travelling?” Severus asked in concern.

“Um,” Blake held the chest of drawers and took the weight off his right leg. “Not really. Did you say horcrux last night?”

“Yes,” Severus said helping Blake dress.

“Dracka!”

The vampire came to the door then gave him a sly grin.

“Didn’t know we had moved to this level yet,” Dracka smirked.

Severus and Blake froze and twin glares were aimed in the vampire’s direction.

“Horcrux,” Blake barked.

“Yes,” Dracka said, staying in the doorway. “I have it in a containment jar.”

“We really need to move,” Blake said, using Severus as a crutch as he made it back to the bed.

Severus spotted the phone still sitting on the chest of drawers and sighed as he picked it back up and gave it to Blake. The man just grinned up at him.

“Ah,” Dracka purred. “Aren’t you two cute?”

“Shove it.”

“There’s a cane in the cupboard Severus,” Blake said as he stood up.

Dracka lunged forward as the Blake’s leg collapsed under him and the man fell into him with a pain filled grunt, his body giving off a lot of heat as Dracka held him.

“Bloody vampires,” Blake cursed, trying not to put weight on his right leg.

“Hey!” Dracka yelped. “This vampire just stopped you from landing on your ass.”

Severus smirked and held the cane out to Blake as he got under the man’s right arm. Dracka passed Blake over to Severus and his eyes locked with the other man’s over Blake’s head. Dracka titled his head to the side slightly.

“What the fuck?” Blake snapped at Dracka. “No!”

Severus was shocked at the outburst as Dracka stepped back, his face unreadable.

“Dracka,” Blake growled and tried to stand up straighter but failed with a hiss.

“What's going on?” Severus asked.

“Nothing,” Dracka replied before Blake could say anything.

Blake stared at the vampire until the man looked away.

“We should get going,” Blake said softly.

They quickly gathered up everything they needed before heading to the front door. Severus helping Blake while Dracka brought up the rear. Once they were outside of the wards, Dracka got under Blake’s other arm and apparated them to the German International Portkey Platform.

They looked around at the crowds and sighed. They were going to be there for a while as Blake sent Dracka off for the portkey as they took a few seats in the back of the large building.

“What was that about before?” Severus asked.

Blake sighed and took a couple more pills with some water from a bottle.

“He was stating his intentions but it can also be a type of bow out.” Blake said softly, holding his head in his hands. "Hard to explain because it can mean a few things, I didn't see the whole exchange to give you a better answer. They have their own language, Severus. Most of it silent and can be hard to pick up."

“Intentions for who?” Severus asked softly, rubbing Blake’s back.

“To you,” Blake muttered into his hands. “To us, it’s your guess. Not going to happen.”

“You wouldn’t have a relationship with him?” Severus asked carefully.

“I didn’t realise you hit the tree instead of me,” Blake replied, peering up at him with pale green eyes.

Severus felt a tension in his shoulders that he didn’t even realise was there ease at the words.

“What about you Severus?” Blake asked, resting back in his seat.

“God, no.” Severus grinned. "I have enough trouble with you."

Blake snorted and closed his eyes.  Severus laid his hand on the man’s knee as they waited. Ignoring any looks cast in their direction.

“I follow your lead in this Severus,” Blake said softly. “I am yours until you tell me otherwise.”

Severus squeezed the man’s knee in response knowing that words weren’t needed between them. Blake smiled keeping his head tilted back on the seat as they waited. It was a good twenty minutes before Dracka appeared, winding his way through the crowd.

“It’s going to be a while.” Dracka said softly, when he returned. “We got behind a big group, is he out?”

Blake didn’t react when Dracka appeared, as he sat sprawled out in the chair.

“I think so,” Severus replied. “It’s not like him. He’s still running a fever.”

 “Yeah,” Dracka agreed taking a seat next to Severus. “They gave me a buzzer for when they are ready for us. Could be a while. Do you want something to eat?”

“Sandwiches and water,” Severus replied softly. “Chicken if you can find them.”

Dracka nodded and moved off.

“Blake?”

Severus shook the man’s shoulder and Blake’s eyes blinked a few times before glancing over at him.

“Wha’?” The man slurred.

“It’s going to be a while, Dracka has gone for food if you're hungry?” Severus said softly.

“I’m good,” Blake replied running a hand over his face.

“Here,” Severus said moving a couple of seats down and pushing the armrests up. “Lay down.”

Blake complied and laid down on his right side using Severus’s leg as a headrest. Severus ran his hand over the man’s head, his hand lightly touching on the swelling at the back. Blake fell asleep quickly and was out with one arm hanging over the side of the seats when Dracka got back with the food. His eyes falling on Blake before flicking up to Severus as he placed the food and drinks on the seat next to the man and took the next one over.

It was over an hour and a half until Dracka’s buzzer went off with a Platform number and time. Severus shook Blake’s shoulder gently, the man jolted and looked up at him.

“They have buzzed us,” Severus whispered. “Portkey in fifteen minutes.”

Severus helped Blake up as Dracka cleared everything away. Blake leaning move heavily on Severus than before as they made their way to the platform and he could feel the heat coming off him. Severus glared at anyone that dared look in their direction but Blake’s cane turned a lot of eyes away before Severus’s glare could. Dracka kept close to Blake’s left side, just in case.

They made it to the platform and stepped into the room as they were handed a Portkey. Dracka got under Blake’s left side and they activated the portkey. Severus was happy to be back on British soil as they moved off the platform and towards the apparation zone and back to the school.

xXx

Harry groaned softly and leaned into Severus’s side as his right leg screamed at him, it was like he had been bitten by that bloody snake all over again as the dark magic of the hallows burned in his blood. He could feel Dracka on his other side but he was just focused on the warmth of Severus and his magic beside him.

“Blake?” Severus asked, resting a hand against his face. “He’s heating up again.”

Harry thought that was odd since he felt cold, except his leg, which felt like it was on fire.

“He seems out of it?” Dracka asked on the other side of him.

Harry missed a step and grunted as more weight came down on his right, which collapsed under him. Severus pulled his arm further up on his shoulders as he felt sweat running down his face as he shivered slightly.

“Come on,” Severus whispered. “We need to get him to the school. The wound might have gotten infected, I’ll get Poppy down to look him over.”

“Dad!”

Harry jolted but didn’t have the energy to lift his head.

“Give us room, Potter.” Severus snapped, making Harry’s head swim.

“What happened?” His son asked.

“He hit a tree,” Severus deadpanned.

Dracka snorted as Harry just thought one step in front of the other. He missed another step and the pain that shot through his right leg left him tumbling in darkness.

xXx

Severus grunted as Blake suddenly went limp between them.

“Potter,” Severus snapped pulling Blake up further. “Run up and get Poppy, something isn’t right.”

Potter took off, as Dracka got further under Blake.

“This seems to be becoming a regular thing,” The vampire muttered.

“That’s because he's an idiot,” Severus muttered, not letting the concern he felt get to him as they got closer to the man’s rooms. “He has no concept of mortality.”

"I suppose that happens if you can't die," Dracka muttered and Severus glared over at him. "Young vampires have the same problem."

"Vampires can be killed," Severus stated mildly. "I made sure to look it up."

Dracka flashed his fangs at the man.

"You will find," Dracka said softly. "That we are not as easy to kill as the books suggest."

Poppy arrived just as they got Blake to his rooms and she quickly ordered his clothes off and had him laid out on the bed. They all looked down at the red and inflamed gash across his leg.

“That doesn’t look good.” Dracka remarked, stepping closer.

“It’s badly infected,” Poppy commented. “How long has it been like this?”

“Less than a day,” Severus muttered with a frown. “I tried a basic healing charm but it failed. Where’s Potter?”

“I sent him to get the Headmaster,” Poppy said as she ran her wand over Blake. “This is too much of an infection for less than a day. Severus could you clean this while I work on the head injury? It’s a bit messy.”

Severus nodded and set himself up to clean the wound. He worked slowly making sure he cleaned it out as much as he could as the bowl of water slowly turned red. While Poppy worked on the swelling on his head.

“Dracka,” Severus said softly looking up at the vampire. “Can you go into Blake’s office and grab the red notebook off his table?”

The vampire nodded and disappeared quickly. Severus stood and washed off his hands before taking the notebook when the vampire returned. He flicked it open and Dracka could see Blake’s neat writing inside.

“What’s that?” Dracka asked.

“His notes on the muscle restoration potions and balms we've been working on,” Severus replied as he flipped through the pages.

“Do you think that’s why the cut has gotten infected so quickly?” Poppy asked as she finished up.

“Maybe,” Severus muttered, until he can across a balm that the man had made. “This might be promising.”

He flicked forward in the book keeping the other page marked with his finger as he looked at the potion that Blake would have taken the night before and started to grin.

“Ah, crap.” Dracka moaned. “I know that grin, that’s a Blake grin.”

Severus gave him a wink. “Can you go to his office, in his second drawer there are containers of balm. I need number…twenty-six?”

“What do you have in mind, Severus?” Poppy asked.

“I’ll need a steel knife as well,” Severus said softly. “I’m sure Blake has one.”

xXx

Harry woke briefly but Severus was quick to give him a couple of pills and a potion, which sent him back down. If he was more in his right mind he would have wondered why, as it was, his body was happy to drift away again.

When he woke again, Poppy was there shinning a light in his eyes and asking him questions that he may or may not have gotten right before Severus was there with pills and potions. He trusted Severus but something wasn’t right.

When he woke for the third time he grabbed Severus’s wrist before he could give him the potion he held. His grip may not have had his normal strength but Severus just waited him out.

“What are you doing?” Harry whispered hoarsely.

His head was swimming and he felt the potions and drugs in his system, just grabbing Severus’s wrist was taxing him.

“Sh, Blake.” Severus said softly, running a hand over his head.

Blake relaxed and his hand slipped off Severus’s wrist.

“Are you in pain?” Severus asked quietly, looking up at something before turning back to Harry.

“No,” Harry slurred, already starting to lose his battle with the darkness at the back of his mind. “Numb.”

Severus looked up at something again before he smiled down at Harry.

“It’s okay,” Severus whispered. “Just take this and go back to sleep.”

Harry tried to lock his eyes onto Severus’s but the world kept spinning, he thought he heard someone else say something but wasn’t sure then he was tumbling into the darkness again.

xXx

“How strong is that potion?” Dracka asked in surprise as Blake went limp again.

The man had been struggling against the potions for the last week and Dracka could tell that it was wearing down on Severus as the man looked pale and sick as he looked down at his lover.

“A quarter of this can take down a Hippogriff,” Severus remarked. “I just gave him a whole vial. God he is strong. He has a high resistance to potions.”

Dracka huffed a laugh.

“That’s not counting the muggle drugs that Doctor Greenburg sent me,” Severus said with a sigh and leaned back in his chair. “We can’t keep him under for much longer.”

“Will it be enough?” Dracka asked in concern.

“It will have to be,” Severus said softly, watching his lover sleep restlessly.

xXx

Harry woke slowly, the drugs and potions in his system making it feel like his brain had been replaced with cotton wool and the bed rocked under him slightly. He was laying on his side with Severus wrapped around him snoring softly. Harry grabbed a hold of the link between then and sent a little bit of magic along the connection to send the other man deeper into sleep, not that it took much. Harry could feel how exhausted the other man was.

“Did you just send him to sleep?”

Harry startled and looked up at Dracka sitting beside the bed, damn them.

“Maybe,” Harry said roughly.

Dracka snorted.

“Are you here to drug me?” Harry whispered.

“No,” Dracka replied. “Severus said you have'd enough. He also said you wouldn’t wake for another few hours.”

“Can’t keep a good man down,” Harry stated with a grin.

“Or a bad one apparently,” Dracka said with a snort.

Harry grinned as Severus turned away in his sleep rolling onto his other side.

“Why?” Harry asked softly, pulling himself up into a sitting position, ignoring the spinning in his head.

“Your leg…” Dracka trailed off.

Harry frowned and grabbed both of his legs.

“Are both still here,” Harry said slowly. “Can’t quite feel them but they are there.”

“We should probably wake up Severus,” Dracka whispered looking nervous.

Harry looked at him sharply, his eyes narrowing.

“What did you do?” Harry hissed.

“Um,” Dracka stuttered, looking very nervous as he played with his hands. “A cutting curse got you right across where the snake had bitten you…”

Harry frowned and carefully pulled the blanket down to look at his leg, it was red and bruised but the scaring and muscle wastage wasn’t there and the skin looked shinny. He felt the muscle and could still feel the damage under the skin but it wasn’t what he was used to.

“The cut was badly infected,” Dracka explained, not looking away from Harry’s naked form. “Severus looked up your notebook…”

“He worked it out,” Harry whispered.

Now that he was looking at the wound it started to throb painfully, but nothing like what he was used to. He rubbed it absentmindedly to ease the pain.

“He’s not sure it has worked,” Dracka said softly, his eyes red. “It’s still healing. That’s why we had to keep you under for so long.”

“How long?” Harry asked turning back to the other man.

“About a week,” Dracka replied, sitting forward in his seat.

“Please tell me you had my phone,” Harry groaned.

Dracka barked a laugh.

“Don’t worry, Blake.” Dracka laughed. “Everyone doesn’t think you’re dead.”

“Ha!” Harry grinned. “Give me a hand, I have to pee.”

Dracka happily helped him from the bed. Harry’s legs felt like rubber and his head was swimming as Dracka helped him, if the Vampire’s hand strayed a little Harry didn’t say anything just trying to keep his feet under him. Hope blooming in his stomach for the first time since the snake had bitten him so long ago.

xXx 

Severus woke with a start and reached out for Blake but the man wasn’t there. He sat up in a panic looking around. He wasn’t in the room and neither was Dracka. Cursing, he pulled himself out of bed and pulled on some pants before opening the bedroom door. Blake looked up at him from the living room table. His phone next to him and files scattered across the tabletop.

“Morning, Severus.” Blake said with a grin.

“For fuck sake,” Severus cursed as he came into the room. “When did you wake up?”

“Yesterday morning,” Blake said calmly.

Severus stared at the man as Blake sat back and smirked at him.

“You sent me to sleep?” Severus accused.

Blake barked a laugh. “I could say the same, love.”

“You two are just as bad as each other,” Dracka said from the lounge.

Severus glared over at the vampire before snagging up a shirt and pulling it on.

“Out,” Blake ordered.

The vampire smirked but did as ordered leaving Severus and Blake alone. Severus made his way over to the table noticing the horcrux sitting on the table top.

“Coffee?” Severus asked.

“Yes, please.”

Severus gathered his thoughts as he made the coffee.

“I looked over my notebook,” Blake called out to him. “What did you see that I didn’t?”

Severus walked back out of the kitchen with the mugs of coffee and placed them on the table before snagging up Blake’s notebook. He flicked it open to the two pages he needed and handed it back to the man. Blake looked down at the two pages.

“But this balm didn’t work.” Blake said softly, with a frown. “The potion worked, of course…”

“The balm would have worked if the bite had been fresh,” Severus said smugly.

“I’m still not seeing it,” Blake said, running a hand over his head.

“The cutting curse that hit you was fresh,” Severus said softly, taking a sip of coffee.

“So, the balm would work on a fresh wound?” Blake asked.

“The cut got infected too quickly,” Severus explained. “It ate into your skin because of the potion.”

“Like the snake venom did,” Blake whispered. “So, you…?”

“Cut the skin down with a steel knife,” Severus said. “And used the balm to build the muscle up.”

“It’s not as painful,” Blake admitted.

“Yes,” Severus said. “We're hoping it will give you more movement.”

“And less pain,” Blake said softly.

“Yes,” Severus agreed. “But it could take a while to see if we were right.”

“I can almost forgive you for keeping me asleep for a week,” Blake said with a smirk. “Almost.”

Severus looked at the other man over the table as he stared at the notebook in his hands. Blake looked up at him and gave him a smile that went straight through him.

“Thank you.”

xXx

Harry tipped the cup out of the containment jar that Dracka had put it in and into the bronze circle of his classroom. He quickly pulled up the protection charm around it and stood back. Dracka, Severus and the Headmaster watched him as he looked down at it.

Something wasn’t right about the cup but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He lowered himself to the floor with the help of his cane and looked at the magic in the cup. He could feel the darkness of the horcrux but it didn’t feel like the others had. He could feel the two souls tangled up in it, so it was a horcrux, it just didn’t feel right.

“Are you just going to stare at it, Blake?” Dracka asked from behind him. “Because I have students to fail.”

“Come here,” Harry said softly.

Dracka moved closer, unsure.

“Please stand on the other side of the circle,” Harry ordered, frowning.

Dracka moved to the other side of the circle and Harry closed his eyes and tapped into his magic. He looked over at Dracka his eyes glowing slightly, making the vampire shiver as he looked into the dark power the man held before focusing on the horcrux again.

“Severus can you stand next to Dracka,” Harry requested softly, something wasn’t right here.

Severus moved next to Dracka and Harry looked at his dark magic with his head tilted to the side slightly before focusing on the horcrux again. What was he missing here?

“What is it, Blake?” Albus said softly.

“There's something wrong with it,” Harry said softly.

“It’s a horcrux,” Dracka said with a snort. “'Wrong’ doesn’t cover it.”

Harry looked up at him with a grin, still seeing his magic swirling around him, making the vampire shiver slightly even Severus shifted uncomfortably.

“You know that gives me the creeps,” Dracka said, flashing his fangs.

Harry pulled back on the magic and gave him a wink.

“Better?” Harry asked in amusement, as Dracka’s eyes flashed red.

Severus pushed Dracka’s shoulder before moving back to Albus leaning on the table. Dracka smirked over at the two men.

“Stay there,” Harry said softly, as Dracka went to move. “I’m going to creep you out again.”

Severus snorted as Albus coughed a laugh.

Harry closed his eyes again and relaxed his body as he focused on his breathing for a second. He pulled both of his wands from their holsters and placed them on either side of him as he looked closely at the horcrux. He could feel it pulsing slightly like a heartbeat and he cocked his head to the side. He wasn’t sure if he was hearing a slight beat or not as he focused more on the magic.

He brushed his magic over Dracka and felt the man shiver as he took a look at the man’s curse and the darkness in his magic before focusing on the horcrux again. It felt similar, but not the same. If anything, it felt halfway between Severus’s dark magic and Dracka’s curse and not like the other horcruxes.

He pulled his magic back and refocused on his breathing and the pulse of magic he could feel from the cup and very carefully reached out towards it but bumped up against his barrier and stopped. He opened his eyes and Dracka jolted back from him as he stood and stepped over the bronze line of the circle and brought the barrier up behind him before sitting again. He would have to work with this one closer this time, which made it that much more perilous.

He could hear the beat stronger now that he was within the circle and he closed his eyes again. He could feel the dark magic reaching out towards him and he gently touched on it to hear whispers in his mind as the heartbeat grew louder and his head tilted again as he listened to it.

The horcrux felt drained in some way, like someone had tapped into its dark power but that just confused Harry even more. How could someone do that without the magic taking them over? Unless they already knew how to control dark magic to a high degree.

Harry tapped his hand on the stones beside him absentmindedly, tapping along to the beat he could hear in his mind. He focused on the voices, being very careful not to let the dark magic of the horcrux mix with his own as he opened his mind a little more. He knew he was stepping into dangerous territory here.

.

_He stood with a knife in his hand as he sliced through a man’s throat as green light flared out around him._

_._

_Dark magic swirled around him as he called out in Latin, the cool night breeze drifting around, as the dark magic twisted out into the night._

_._

_Dark power cracked along his skin as dark power poured into his body burning him from the inside out._

_._

_He looked up to see bodies scattered around him in piles so deep he couldn’t see the ground as crows cawed loudly and he felt dark glee run through his body at the death and destruction._

_._

_He rubbed his fingertips together, his hand covered in blood, as dark sparks flew from his fingertips catching on the air to drift away._

_._

The whispers grew louder as the heartbeat drowned everything out and Harry’s hand stilled. The voices screamed and Harry grabbed a hold of the dark magic harshly and pulled, ripping it free of where it had lived, as he heard a soft crack.

Harry hissed as the darkness turned on him and he brought up his light magic to block it as it turned like a snake to bite him. He very carefully wrapped the darkness up as he panted slightly at the effort and his other hand reached out for a wand that wasn’t there and he cursed his stupidity.

The darkness found a weakness and tried to strike out but Harry was quicker as he ripped into it, ignoring the pounding in his head. A hand falling on his shoulder, startled him and he looked up in shock. A young woman in her late teens stood next to him and gave him a soft smile, her brown hair braded down her back as she stood in a blue dress, her pale skin glowing softly as she looked down at him.

Harry got a quick glimpse of pain and suffering before the woman smiled and Harry could feel the light magic touch him as he held the darkness in his hands and Harry released it. The woman took the darkness into her hand and gave Harry a smile, her brown eyes dancing.

“ _I’ll take it from here_ ,” The woman whispered in his mind as he felt light magic brush over him.

Harry could only stare up at the woman as she turned and stepped away. She puffed into smoke, which settled across the ground. Harry listened as the beat slowly drifted away and he opened his eyes and found himself staring at the silver cup in front of him and the crack running down the side of it. He reached out and broke the protection circle around him.

Harry yelped when hands suddenly grabbed him pulling him to his feet and he grabbed Dracka’s wrists, as he looked into the vampire’s red eyes, his own eyes wide.  Dracka shook him slightly as Severus and Albus tried to grab the vampire.

“Whoa,” Harry snapped. “Settle down!”

Dracka’s eyes bled back into black as he looked at him and Harry patted the hands clenched in his shirt.

“Blake?” Dracka asked softly.

“That’s me,” Harry said softly with a crooked grin. “Not anyone else.”

Dracka gently released him and Harry set his feet on the ground as he picked up the dark magic around them and pushed it down into the stones below them. Dracka stepped back and Harry’s eyes flicked over to a very pale Severus.

“Hey,” Harry said with a grin.

“What the hell was that?” Severus said softly and Harry wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or Dracka.

“I broke the protection charm too early,” Harry said as he straightened his shirt. “There was still too much dark magic around me.”

“I wasn’t sure if the horcrux had taken you over,” Dracka said softly and Severus paled even more.

Harry gave the vampire a lopsided grin and a wink, which just made Dracka growl at him, and Severus’s glare kick up a notch.

“What happened?” Albus asked softly, breaking into the stand off.

“Someone had siphoned off some of the magic in the horcrux,” Harry said softly. “There were memories in it…”

Harry trailed off as his mind went back to what he had seen and felt and Dracka grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back sharply.

“Ah, sorry.” Harry said, distracted. “I could tell there was something wrong with it. It wasn’t as dark as the others, more like a mix between your magic Dracka and yours Severus.”

Albus glanced over at Severus but the other man hadn’t taken his eyes off Harry.

“I’m not sure what you saw?” Harry asked.

“Not much,” Dracka replied for the other two. “Just flashes of light and dark magic, not all of it yours.”

“Yes,” Harry replied with a frown. “He used a light witch to make the horcrux. That was very risky, or he wasn’t aware of it, it weakened the dark magic over time and I think that’s how Simpson was able to break into it.”

Dracka swore.

“He has the knowledge of how to become a Dark Lord,” Harry said softly to the room. “He got it from the horcrux. I was looking for a connection between the two men but there wasn’t one to find. He stole the horcrux and fled into hiding.”

Dracka paled and the other two men didn’t look much better.

“He has the Dark Lord’s memories on how to do a dark ritual to become a Dark Lord,” Harry said softly to the room.

The thought alone made Harry shiver. The man may have tried and failed to become a Dark Lord in the past but he now held memories on how to become a Dark Lord from a man that was already at that level. It looked like it was just a matter of time now, until the man acted on the memories he had gained.


	14. Chapter Thirty

Warning: Non graphic torture.

xXx

_Harry was screaming, he knew he was screaming for he could feel the blood in his throat as lines of fire burned across his back. A network of fire as the dark magic of the hallows burned in his veins and his blood spattered to the floor. The man behind him paused and Harry was left boneless and gasping._

_“Where are they?”_

_Harry watched his blood and sweat drip to the floor as he hung from the chains rigged to the roof. Holding his arms slightly to the side of his body, his wrists burning as much as his back as he swung slightly. His legs had given out days ago as he hung loosely._

_“Start again.”_

_Fire laced down on his back, ripping through his skin and tearing open the wounds that had tried to heal. Harry was screaming and he didn’t care as the darkness over took him._

_Cold salt water jolted him to awareness, tearing a scream from his raw throat. The hallows’s dark magic swirling in his head as men grabbed his arms dragging him down the hallways. Harry didn’t know how long he had been kept here but his team’s lives depended on him._

_“Mr Potter,” A man drawled._

_Harry hung his head as the men handcuffed his wrists to the chains from the roof. He hung limply, his energy gone._

_“You'll be happy to know that your team were successful in their mission.”_

_Harry jolted but the pain in his body kept him from looking up as small shivers racked his frame._

_“You don’t need to hold on to that information anymore.”_

_Harry just panted feeling hot and cold at the same time as the hallows swirled in his head and blood. Keeping him alive, keeping him in pain._

_“Now, I want to know how you are still alive. Start.”_

_Harry grunted under the first lash across his back, he was screaming by the third and lost his voice by the twelfth and they just kept falling without pause._

_“I was sure we killed you.”_

_Fire running down his back as his blood hit the floor in splatters._

_“How are you alive?”_

_The sound of Harry gasping was the only sound in the room as mist swirled in his head. Fire and blood were his world as his vision dimmed down to the concrete floor below him covered in his own blood, both old and new._

_“Harry, Harry, Harry.” The man’s voice purred. “How long do we have to do this?”_

_Harry could feel himself slipping, the mists starting to take over his mind. Suddenly a bucket of cold salt water splashed over his back, tearing a scream from him._

_“Are you paying attention, Mr Potter?”_

_Harry just swung there, unsure if he was alive or dead as the hallows burned in his veins setting his back on fire. He could feel his lungs filling with blood, making each breath a challenge. His mind in confusion.  He didn’t know where he was or why everything was covered in dark mist._

_“Cut him down.”_

_Harry felt men beside him before he was lowered to the ground in a heap. He didn’t bother moving. He had no energy to do so anyway. He felt a hand roughly rolling him onto his back and his world exploded in pain._

_The hallows jolted him back to life and he just wanted to cry. He whimpered, his mind in tatters. He just wanted to curl up in a ball, away from the world, and die. He didn’t want the fire to eat him or the darkness to claim him.  He just wanted it all to end._

_Somehow, he was crawling, his hands and knees ripping open as he moved. Unsure about where he was going. He bumped into a wall and collapsed against it. His mind over taken by black mists.  He couldn’t see, just feel pain and fire. That was his world._

_“Where are you going, Mr Potter?”_

_Harry flinched at the voice as he wrapped his hands over his head, curling into a ball as he tried to drown out the sound._

_“You will break.”_

_Harry curled up tighter, ignoring the added pain when the wounds on his back split open. It was nothing compared to the burning and darkness._

_“You will tell me, Harry. Why you can’t die?”_

_Harry whimpered as the hallows burned, he did not know how he hadn’t burst into flames. It hurt so much._

_“Come now, Mr Potter.” The voice cooed. “You killed Voldemort without flinching, can’t you even look at me?”_

_Harry shook._

_“Do I need to string you up again?”_

_Harry shook harder._

_“Mr Potter?”_

_Harry felt hands on his head, his shoulders, his hip and he just shook. Curling up as tight as he could. A cold hand grabbed his wrist and with strength, that Harry didn’t have, lifted his arm away from his head._

_Cold brown eyes stared down at him as a man in a suit crouched before him._

_“Come now, Mr Potter.” The man purred. “We are all friends here.”_

_._

Harry woke with a start with an arm wrapped around him. He ripped himself away in a panic, pulling at the blanket as he tried to scramble from the bed. His legs tangled in the blanket and he fell to the ground painfully.

“Blake!”

Harry glazed around, sightlessly, the taste of blood still in his mouth and the phantom feeling of hands and fire lashing across his back as he tried to get his feet under him. His right leg collapsing as he tried to get away from the hands reaching for him and he crashed to the floor again.

“Blake!”

He flinched back from the sound and scrambled across the floor until he collided with the wall and slid down. Curling up with his hands over his head. He could hear a voice and hands on his body and he whimpered. The darkness in him flaring as he shivered.

“Blake!” A voice called from above him. “Dracka! Get down here, now! Just calm down, Blake.”

Harry shivered, curling up tighter, his hands clenching around his skull and he was sure he was going to leave marks. Couldn’t tell, had to keep his team safe.

“No,” Harry whispered. “Won’t tell, won’t. No.”

“Fuck.”

Harry flinched, curling tighter.

_Leave me alone! Just want to die, leave me!_

“He just panicked.”

“Flashback maybe. Looks like it. Blake?”

Harry whimpered.

“Has this happened before?”

“No. Do you know what to do?”

“Um, just let him relax. Blake, can you hear us?”

Harry shivered, he just couldn’t stop, still caught up in his memories as fire raced up and down his spine.

.

_Cold water splashed over him jolting him awake._

_“Come now, Mr Potter.” A voice said calmly from above him. “It’s rude to pass out when someone is talking to you. Now tell me how you are still alive?”_

_._

“Blake?”

Hands were touching him again and he tried to move back across the floor but his back was already hard against the wall and he whimpered.

“Just step back Severus. I don’t think he's here with us. He might lash out.”

“Blake…please.”

.

_Harry shivered as ice and fire ran in his veins. His breathing becoming harder to draw into his lungs with the knife between his ribs. He looked up into the other man’s brown eyes as the man looked down at him coldly. There was no expression on the man’s face as he held the knife. Harry had a hand wrapped around the man’s wrist but was losing strength quickly as the hallows took glee in eating through him. His mind swimming in mists, he could barely see the man in front of him through the darkness._

_“Not long now, Mr Potter.” The man said and smiled._

_._

Harry whimpered, curling his hands further around his head feeling the knife slip between his ribs all over again. Voices spoke quietly above him, pulling him back with their soft tones. He relaxed slightly, one hand falling away from his body towards the voices. A soft familiar hand took his and Harry whimpered again.

“Come on, Blake.” A soft voice whispered. “You are safe here.”

.

_Harry could feel his mind slipping as the brown eyes watched him in interest. The man released the knife and sat back on his heels. Harry used the last of his strength to pull the knife free. The silver knife glinting in the light as he held it in his hand._

_“You think you can attack me?” The man asked softly. “I can already see the life draining from you!”_

_The man laughed and Harry lunged. He plunged the knife into the man’s heart with the last of his energy as his life fled him._

_._

Harry tightened his hold on the hand in his, fire racing up and down his back, and he whimpered in remembered pain.

“Sh, it’s okay Blake.” The voice said softly. “We have you.”

.

_“He’s in here!”_

_Harry jolted awake, the silver knife still griped in his hand and a body lying next to him._

_“Holy fuck! Medic! Quick!”_

_Voices yelling, hands on him, on his throat, on his shoulders and rolling him onto his back. Pain and screaming he wasn’t sure if it was his own or not, everything was drowning in mists._

_“Harry!”_

_Ron’s pale face appeared above him._

_“Roll him back to his side! You idiots!”_

_“Harry!”_

_Ron was kneeling beside him, a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly._

_“Hold on, mate.” Ron said in a rush. “We have you! You are safe now.”_

_._

“We have you Blake, you're safe.”

Harry relaxed, his body going slack, the hand in his tightened as he looked up into Severus’s pale face.

“Hey,” Severus said softly.

“Hey,” Harry whispered, eyes flicking over to Dracka before going back to Severus. “What happened?”

“You tell us?” Dracka said softly, kneeling down next to Severus. “Was it a flashback? You were mumbling but we couldn’t work out what you were saying.”

Harry frowned as he could still feel the dark power of the hallows running down his spine. He tried to get up but his right leg failed him and he slipped back to the floor.

“Just take a moment,” Dracka said softly.

Harry gritted his teeth and used the wall to pull himself up, his head swimming and he almost landed on his ass again. It was only sheer will power alone that kept him on his feet.

“Blake?” Severus asked softly, hovering near him but not helping him.

Harry ignored him and moved towards the chest of drawers, using the wall to keep himself up. He felt like he'd been in battle for two days straight. He made it to the chest of drawers and pulled the top one open and pulled a silver knife out.

Severus’s hand wrapped around his wrist tightly and Harry looked up at him in confusion. The man was so pale but his grip on Harry’s wrist was like steel. Then it dawned on Harry.

“It's okay,” Harry whispered.

Severus didn’t release his wrist, his black eyes wide. Harry let the knife clatter onto the top of the chest of drawers and stepped back. Dracka moved forward and picked up the knife with a shirt wrapped around his hand.

“I know this isn’t the time.” Dracka said softly, into the silence. “But I’m getting a good eye full here.”

Harry and Severus looked over at the vampire and Harry noticed his state of undress and Severus was only wearing underwear.

“Don’t get used to it,” Harry smirked as Severus blushed. “I would call you a dirty old man but you are younger than I am.”

Severus and Dracka relaxed as they stared at Harry and he realised how much he had scared them but since his hands were still shaking, he knew they weren’t the only ones that were spooked.

“I took that knife,” Harry said softly into the silence of the room. “From the man that tortured me.”

Severus paled even more and Dracka didn’t look much better.

“That’s what…” Severus trailed off.

“Yes,” Harry said softly with Severus’s hand still wrapped around his wrist. “I think the hallows had something to do with it.”

“But why?” Dracka asked as he placed the knife into his pocket.

Harry didn’t take offence at that.

“I don’t know,” Harry said softly. “Let me get dressed. Dracka can you put the kettle on?”

Dracka nodded and left the lovers alone. Severus took Harry in a hug and if it was a bit tighter than normal Harry didn’t say anything and just hugged him back. Letting the tears fall as Severus rubbed a hand up and down his back. They stood there for a while listening to Dracka in the next room as Harry just soaked up the comfort the other man was offering, trying to get his thoughts back in order.

When they walked out of the room, some time later, Dracka didn’t say anything about Harry’s red eyes and just pushed a mug of coffee his way. Harry nodded in thanks and sat at the table and idly picked up a pen and started tapping the table. Severus and Dracka shared a look but didn’t say anything.

Harry looked over at the files on the table, that he'd been reading the night before. There were only three files in a neat pile in the middle of the table. The ones that the Headmaster had given him about Graham Simpson and the one he'd gotten from America.

Dracka placed the silver knife on the table in front of him and Harry’s eyes darted over to it as his tapping paused slightly. He knew if he reached for it, that the vampire would pull it away.

“Why did you keep it?” Dracka asked with a frown.

Harry sighed and put the pen down and held his head in his hands. Severus rubbed his back as he tried to sort out his thoughts.

“I don’t know,” Harry replied. “Felt like I had earned it or something. Ron took it from my hand and gave it to me after I was released from hospital.”

“No sense that boy,” Severus muttered.

Harry huffed a laugh and looked up as he palmed his chin with his elbows on the table. Dracka frowned at them but didn’t ask any questions.

“He thought it was mine,” Harry said softly. “He could be a bit thick sometimes. Ginny ripped him a new one and tried to take it away from me. I wouldn’t let her.”

Harry pulled his two wands from their holsters and placed them on the table. One pale and the other dark. He placed his hand on top of the wands, thinking.

“I was held for about two months.” Harry whispered, looking at the wands. “The team that I was a part of had a mission…”

He pushed the wands towards Dracka and the knife just out of his reach. The vampire raised an eyebrow as he reached for the wands. Placing them beside the knife on the table.

“I knew the battle plans,” Harry said softly, taking a sip of coffee. “We had split up about two weeks prior. I was the secret keeper for the team. Bit stupid really, but I wasn’t the one in control of the planning, I was just taking orders.”

He picked up the pen on the table again and Severus groaned. Harry looked at him then the pen and flicked it towards Dracka. The vampire grinned and added it to the pile in front of him.

“Anything else?” Dracka asked.

Harry flicked his wrist at his side and held his sword out towards the vampire, hilt first. Dracka picked up the shirt to cover his hand as he grabbed the sword and placed it onto the table with a grin.

“That’s it?” Dracka questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s all you’re getting, vampire.” Harry growled.

Dracka grinned showing fangs, Severus just sighed. He was getting used to dealing with these two men.

“The mission?” Severus prompted softly, bringing the men back to the conversation at hand.

“Was a success.” Harry said, eyes locking with Severus. “I believe that I was supposed to be killed after my team was successful and I was no use to them anymore…It didn’t go to plan for them.”

“The hallows?” Severus whispered.

“Yes,” Harry replied. “Then they had found something more interesting than just finding out battle plans.”

Severus paled at the words and laid his hand on top of Harry’s on the table. Harry turned his hand so he was gripping the other man’s hand.

“There was only one problem.” Harry commented, sitting back in his seat. “I didn’t know how the hallows worked. Yes, they had saved my life before but I had no idea about how they did it or if they could be taken from me.”

“They killed you?” Dracka asked softly.

Harry nodded.

“Quite a few times, I think.” Harry replied. “I killed the man that tortured me, he let down his guard and I used his own knife. That one.”

Harry’s eyes flicked over to the pile of his stuff in front of the vampire. Dracka grinned at him showing fangs.

“You’re smug,” Harry said to him. “You do realise I can call the elder wand and the sword back at any time?”

Severus huffed a laugh as Dracka looked like he had eaten a lemon.

“So,” Severus said slowly. “The wand and the ring you showed me are parts of the hallows?”

Dracka frowned in confusion.

“Wait a minute,” Dracka said. “That’s not right.”

Harry grinned and sat back in his seat and slipped the ring off his finger and placed it on the table and slid it across the tabletop towards Dracka.  The vampire reached out, his eyes red, as he picked up the ring.

“The three parts of the Deathly Hallows,” Harry explained. “The stone, the cloak and the wand.”

Severus frowned. “But the ring?”

“The first time I died,” Harry said softly. “Was when the Dark Lord killed me. I didn’t have the wand or the stone or even the cloak on me, that I can remember, but I was their master. Not that I knew it then. I took up the elder wand when I killed the Dark Lord. The ring came to me later, I'm not even sure when. I just noticed it one day. It has the symbol of the Deathly Hallows on it.”

Dracka held up the ring, Harry grinned and held his hand out and the ring appeared in his palm and he closed his hand over it. When he opened his palm again it was gone.

“This is the hallows when it has a master,” Harry said softly.

“Master of Death,” Dracka breathed.

Harry nodded.

“I’ve been called worse.” Harry said, with a wink. “Even now, I have no idea how the hallows work. All I know is their dark power is mine, just as much as the light power I wield.”

“What is the sword then?” Dracka asked.

“Um, a silver sword.” Harry deadpanned.

Severus smirked.

“You said you can call it back,” Dracka explained.

“Because it's linked to me.” Harry said, then amended his answer. “Well, linked to my magic.”

Severus snorted and Harry looked over at him, still confused and tilted his head in question.

“I believe,” Severus drawled. “That linking a sword to yourself is not common magic.”

“Ah,” Harry said in understanding. “A time difference?”

Severus nodded with a fond look in his eyes and a smirk.

“It’s easy magic,” Harry said with a grin.

“I imagine that a lot of ‘easy’ magic to you, Blake.” Dracka growled. “Is what us normal people call bloody damn difficult!”

Harry just grinned, feeling a weight lifting from his shoulders as he looked at the other two men.

xXx

Harry lay awake for the third night in a row with Severus snoring softly beside him as his mind kept bringing up the cold eyes of the man that had tortured him. He couldn’t even recall the man’s name as he lay there and even with the scars to remind him every day what he had been through, he hadn’t even thought of the man or the experience in a long time and it confused him why he had thought of it at all.

He pulled himself to his feet, pulled on some jeans as he moved into his main room and looked around. He limped over to the lounge and flopped down onto it and glared at the clock in the room telling him he should be asleep and not awake at two in the morning. He tilted his head back against the lounge and looked up at the ceiling his eyes running along the wooden beams above him but he couldn’t shake his thoughts.

He got to his feet again and walked back and forth as he let his thoughts drift. His right leg stiff but he walked through it as he moved. He flicked his wrist and his silver sword fell into his hand and he swished it through the air, feeling the blade’s perfect balance. He floated his furniture to the sides of the room with a wave of his hand and fell into a balanced stance, taking into account his leg, as he calmed his breathing.

He moved the sword to his left hand and slowly moved through a couple of moves keeping his right leg back before switching hands and moving through the same moves on his other side. He paused before moving the sword to his other hand again and working through the moves quicker as he fell into each stance. Switching back and forth from hand to hand.

So many people had told him that he was lucky to walk after he was bitten but there was no way he was going to take that as an answer. He had a long life ahead of him and he would not lie down. It’s what pushed him to still work on the potions and balms to restore the muscle in his leg even after all these years.

He knew he could be stubborn and stupid and so many other things but it didn’t matter to him. If he was going to live, he was going to live. He swung the sword around his body knowing the moves as the muscles in his body fell into each stance and he pushed himself to the edge of his endurance as he worked through his swirling thoughts and the new movement in his leg, due to what Severus had done.

He slowed his movements down and held each stance a little longer testing his muscles and the changes that he would make to his thrusts and movements as he worked.

When he finally stopped he was panting hard and he leaned on his sword as his leg disagreed with so much movement but he felt better. His thoughts settling around him and his mind felt clearer. He looked up when he heard slow clapping to see Severus looking at him with dark eyes. Harry wiped the sweat away from his eyes and stood up a little straighter.

“Hey,” Harry panted. “Did I wake you?”

Severus moved towards him without answering until he stood in front of him and wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword. Harry gave it to him with a slight frown, as the other man looked it over.

“Goblin made.” Harry said softly, as he stepped back to the lounge to lean on it as he watched Severus. “Pure silver that has been hardened. Nothing will break it and I keep it razor sharp, so watch your fingers.”

“When did you get it?” Severus asked as he held the sword in his hand.

“Very long time ago,” Harry replied. “My master in Japan used to laugh at it because it’s a straight blade.”

Harry stepped forward with a grin and grabbed Severus’s hips and kicked his right foot slightly. Severus moved the foot and Harry kicked the other one into place until he had Severus in a stance.

“Move your weight back slightly and hold the sword up,” Harry said softly. “Hold that.”

Harry moved back to the bedroom and picked up another sword from his cupboard in a black sheath. He moved back into the main room and moved into a stance before Severus, the sword still sheathed.

“Swing it towards me,” Harry said.

“Blake?” Severus questioned softly.

Harry tapped his blade against Severus’s sword with a grin as he stepped forward. Severus quickly stepped back and brought the sword up. Harry fell back into stance and waited.  Severus stood there for a moment before stepping forward and swinging the blade, which Harry blocked easily.

“Again,” Harry said softly. “Step back, move forward on your right and keep yourself balanced.”

Severus grinned as he did as he was instructed and Harry blocked, the silver sword 'thunking' softly against the black covering of Harry’s sword. Harry gently tapped him with the sword on his side.

“Protect your side,” Harry suggested as Severus moved back into stance. “That stance is similar to a stance you would take in a wizard duel.”

“Yes,” Severus agreed. “Have you duelled?”

“Um,” Harry replied. “Never had the time. Didn’t see the point. Most of the time whenever I found myself at the other end of a wand, they wanted to kill me.”

Harry stepped back as Severus swung this time and the other man over balanced and stumbled, Harry moved forward and placed his blade against Severus’s back. Severus looked over at him as Harry stepped back and placed the tip of the sword on the floor.

“That sword is lighter,” Harry commented and held out the hilt of the sword he held.

Severus took it in his hand and could feel the difference. He held out the hilt of the silver sword out but Harry just dismissed the blade from Severus’s hand and he startled as Harry grinned at him.

“That’s a steel blade,” Harry said gesturing at the sword in Severus’s hand. “From Japan.”

Severus looked at the slightly curved blade in his hand in interest as he looked at the well looked after leather curled around the hilt and slowly drew the blade to see Japanese writing down the blade in interest.

“Different name, different life.” Harry said softly.

Severus ran his fingers down the characters in interest, feeling the etching in the cold metal.

“How do you move so smoothly?” Severus asked.

“With my leg?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Yes.”

“Lots of practise,” Harry said in amusement. “I had to relearn how to move with the injury. To turn a disadvantage to an advantage.”

Harry took the blade from Severus’s hand and slipped the sheath off and handed it to the other man before giving himself space and stepped into a stance. He flicked the blade and fell into the moves as the blade sung around him. Swing, step, turn and thrust. His feet always moving as he danced with a blade everything else falling away as his body moved through the stances and moves.

He hadn’t worked with this heavier sword in a long time and he could feel the strain as he slowed the movements down and his leg protested slightly. He could have lightened the sword with magic, but he didn’t, preferring to work the sword the way it was. He moved through the last move and held his last stance slightly before lowering the blade as he panted slightly.

Harry startled when Severus wrapped his arms around his waist and Severus chuckled in his ear sending a shiver down his spine as the man kissed the back of his neck.

“You’re beautiful,” Severus whispered in his ear.

“Not bad for three in the morning,” Harry huffed as he leaned back in Severus's embrace.

Severus breathed across his neck and Harry shivered again as the man held him close as he kissed along his bare shoulder. Harry was surprised to feel how hard the other man was behind him.

“Like what you saw?” Harry murmured as he wiggled slightly against Severus.

“Yes,” Severus breathed in his ear holding him tight.

Harry tilted his head back to look up at the other man and Severus gave him a small smile as his hands ran down his sides. Harry turned in the man’s embrace and placed the sword on the table beside them as he pulled Severus’s head down and kissed him deeply.

Harry reached between them and rubbed Severus through his pants making the man moan and pull him closer. He quickly unbuckled the man’s belt and slipped his hand around his cock.  Harry held his ground as Severus went to walk them back towards the bedroom and held his hip as he worked on him.

Severus’s head fell on his shoulder as his arms looped around his waist as Harry worked up and down the man’s cock twisting his wrist slightly as he increased the speed, spreading precum along the length until Severus was panting in his ear and moving his hips slightly as Harry held him in place.

“Blake?” Severus whispered.

“Sh,” Harry whispered back.

Harry braced himself as Severus stiffened before he came and Harry took his weight before casting a cleaning charm and wrapping his arms around the other man. Severus went to reach for him but Harry grabbed his wrist stopping him.

Severus pulled back and looked down at him with a frown but Harry just took his hand and pulled him back towards the bedroom. Severus followed after him, slightly puzzled.

“Back to bed,” Harry said with a grin. “We both have classes in the morning.”

“Blake?” Severus asked softly as he went to grab the other man again and he moved back.

“I’m fine Severus,” Harry said softly.

Harry slipped out of his pants and moved into bed, feeling tired from working with his sword. His thoughts settled for now as he curled up in the bed, Severus settled along his back and Harry grabbed his hand and held it against his stomach as he wiggled back and settled in.

“Are you okay?” Severus muttered.

Harry started at the words, having already drifted off.

“Sure,” Harry replied. “Tired.”

Harry felt Severus run his hand down his side and he closed his eyes just soaking in the feeling of the man behind him and the heaviness of his body as sleep over came him.

xXx


	15. Chapter Thirty One

“Are you just hanging around girl’s bathrooms now, Mr Sun?”

Harry looked up to see Severus leaning in the doorway of the girl’s bathroom on the second floor with a smirk on his lips as he looked down his nose at Harry kneeling on the floor in front of the sinks lining one wall.

“It’s not what you think.” Harry replied, with a smirk.

“With you, Blake.” Severus drawled. “It could be worse”

Harry barked a laugh and pulled himself to his feet.

“The Chamber of Secrets,” Harry announced and waved his hand around. “The secret lair of Salazar Slytherin starts in a girl’s bathroom. I’m not sure if that’s smart or perverted.”

Severus barked a laugh and gave the man a smirk.

“ _Open_.” Harry hissed, making Severus jump.

“You should warn someone before doing that!” Severus snapped as Harry grinned at him.

He turned back to the tunnel that had been revealed to them and frowned.

“What do you have in mind?” Severus questioned beside him.

“It’s big enough down there as a staging point for bringing people into Hogwarts,” Harry replied as he stepped towards the tunnel. “I’ll have to look at the magic to see if I can make it easier to get in and out of there and whether the wards reach that far down.”

Harry grabbed the edge of the tunnel and swung in with Severus yelling after him. Harry grinned as he slid down the slide and wondered about the sanity of Slytherin as he stumbled to his feet at the other end and looked around. It was just like he remembered, but then again, he doubted anyone else had been down here since Ry, Lockhart and Ginny were. He looked over his shoulder as Severus landed with a curse and smirked over at the other man.

“You are insane, you know that!” Severus snapped as he got to his feet with a disgusted look at the dirt on his robes.

Harry just laughed and limped off down the tunnel with Severus muttering under his breath behind him. The other man gasped as they stepped out into the main cavern and looked around with large eyes.

“He had a flare for drama, right?” Harry said as he looked around. “Must have run in the Slytherin line.”

Severus’s eyes locked on the skeleton of the basilisk and his whole face lit up. Harry patted his shoulder as the man went over to have a better look as Harry moved further into the room.

“Potter killed this thing?” Severus called, crouching down near the skeleton’s head.

“Gives you a shiver doesn’t it?” Harry called back as he stopped in front of the statue of Salazar Slytherin.

“That doesn’t cover it,” Severus said quietly. “I could use this in my potions.”

“Go for it,” Harry called over his shoulder. “I’m just going to look at the wards…oh, I may have to speak in parseltongue…just a warning.”

Severus flashed him a smirk as Harry turned back to the statue. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing as Severus moved around quietly behind him and the slow drips of water the only noise around them. He slowly opened his mind to the magic in the cavern.

He frowned when he didn’t find much magic and no dark magic tainted the cavern as he opened his eyes. He could feel the wards pulsing under his feet and knew that they lay very close to him. So, Slytherin had made his secret chamber within the wards. He frowned and felt further out but just touched on the charms and spells that you would expect from a cavern made underground.

“Was Slytherin a Dark Wizard?” Harry called to Severus.

“From reports he was,” Severus replied. “But that was a long time ago.”

“There is no dark magic here,” Harry reported. “Nothing.”

“Maybe he didn’t want to give the Headmaster a headache,” Severus said with a smirk. “Unlike someone else I know.”

“Ah,” Harry stuttered. “I did apologise to Albus after the last time.”

Severus barked a laugh.

“I think the old man is getting used to it,” Severus said as he worked on removing a rib from the basilisk.

“Maybe that’s why there's no dark magic down here.” Harry remarked, looking around. “The wards lay just under our feet so any use of the dark magic would have been picked up by the Headmaster of the school.”

“You do know, that most people with dark magic don’t throw it around like you.” Severus remarked. “It could have just faded over the years as well.”

“Maybe,” Harry replied as he looked around. “The Dark Lord would have been too young to use dark magic when he was at school.”

Harry kneeled down and felt the pulse of the wards under his palm and goose bumps came up on his arms with the feeling of static electricity nipping at his fingertips.

“Talking to the wards?” Severus called.

“Ha, ha” Harry replied as he moved back to Severus. “I’m going to take a walk around and see if there's another way into the chamber.”

“Right,” Severus replied, busy with taking the snake apart.

“Keep an ear out in case there are more of them around,” Harry said with a smirk and Severus’s hand stilled.

“There could be more?” Severus asked, his eyes glinting.

“Are you hoping for fleshy parts?” Harry laughed as he moved off.

“Do you know the kind of potions I could make with those parts!?” Severus called after him.

Harry grinned as he moved towards one for the tunnels branching off from the main cavern and threw a light up into the air to see better as he worked his way through the passages.

xXx

Severus looked around when he heard a slight scuff but there was nothing there as the dripping of water played games with his head. The cavern was bloody creepy as he looked up at the blank eyes of Salazar Slytherin and he shivered. He'd noticed the marks on the floor of the cavern and Severus was sure that it had been used for duelling down here at some point and he wasn't sure if Blake had picked up on that.

The running water and dripping making him think he could hear whispers from the tunnels was putting him slightly on edge as he worked on the snake’s skeleton before him. He would be able to sell a lot of this at the apothecary in Diagon Alley for a good price. Severus looked up again and frowned, Blake had been gone for a while now. He stood and looked around, wondering where the man could have wandered off too.

“Blake?” Severus called out, his voice echoing around the chamber.

‘ _Where could the man have gotten to?_ ’ Severus thought as he looked around.

“Blake?” Severus called again.

Suddenly the man appeared with his silver sword in one hand and the cherry wand in the other and a slightly wild look in his eyes.

“Hey!” Blake panted. “You know how I said that you could have some fleshy ingredients?”

Severus’s eyes widened and he pulled his wand as a rumbled started up under his feet and he swore.

“Get back towards the entrance!” Blake barked and Severus didn’t argue. “Don’t look it in the eyes!”

A large snake’s head appeared further down the cavern and swung its head towards the two wizards and flicked its tongue out. Severus quickly looked away as Blake pushed him further back in the tunnel. A shimmering wall of whiteness appeared in front of them as the snake hissed and started to move towards them.

Blake grabbed his hand and he felt something run over his body, he shivered and his eyes widened as everything in the cavern suddenly had a soft glow around it.

“What did you do?’ Severus hissed.

“You should be safe from its gaze now.” Blake whispered, moving them slowly back as the snake moved towards them and Blake hissed something beside him making him shiver.

The snake paused before rearing up and Blake pushed him to the side as he went the other way as the snake lunged at them. Severus landed against the wall hard as the snake dived passed them. He quickly ducked behind one of the pillars, his heart beating a hundred miles an hour and he could hear Blake hissing something as the snake slid passed him. The beast was huge.

Severus tightened his grip on his wand and quickly moved after the snake, towards where he could hear Blake further along the cavern. He slid slightly on the wet floor and swore as he skittered towards another pillar as the snake's tail flicked out. It smashed into the pillar near him, sending chips of stone flying.

“ _Sectumsempra_!” Severus hissed and slashed his wand down.

The white spell smashed into the snake and the sound it made shook the chamber. He hit the floor as the beast swung around with speed, he wouldn't think something so big would be have been capable of, as it crashed into the pillar next to him. Stone and dust rained down on his head as he ducked quickly.

Blake darted forward and slash at the snake’s side with his sword and it swung its head towards the wizard, then Blake was moving out of Severus’s sight again drawing the snake off. Severus quickly scrambled to his feet and darted down one of the side tunnels, the sounds of hissing and crashing coming from everywhere making it hard to pin point where the animal was.

Blake yell out from somewhere and headed in that direction but the tunnel split into three different directions before Severus and he swore. He quickly placed his wand in his hand and hissed the point me spell. It locked on Blake and pointed to his right and he ran forward.

A loud crash had the floor shaking and Severus paled and hoped the roof didn’t come down on their heads as Blake yelled out something else that he couldn’t work out, followed by another loud crash. He slid out of the tunnel just to duck a spell as it sailed over his head.

“Sorry!” Blake called.

Severus quickly sent a cutting spell at the snake and it howled, its head swinging in his direction and Severus ducked back into the tunnel, the snake on his heels.

“Severus!”

Severus panted as he ran, he could hear the basilisk behind him, but it was falling back as he ran and slipped through the tunnels until silence descended around him and he glanced over his shoulder. The beast was gone.

He placed his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath as he looked around with wide eyes. All he could hear was dripping water and his own breathing, he moved away from the wall and walked further down the tunnel as it started to widen into another small chamber. He looked around with wide eyes at the number of tunnels leading off this one.

He held his wand out again and did the point me spell but it just spun unable to pick up on Blake. Severus cursed since it looked like the spell got confused, like owls did sometimes, when trying to find Blake.

He went to try the connection in the ring next but lost his concentration as the cavern shook slightly and he threw his hand out to the side of the tunnel to steady himself. He could hear a distant rumble to his right, so he ran in that direction. Blake skidded around the corner with his silver sword in his hand.

“Other way!” The man snapped.

Severus quickly ran the other way, Blake’s heavy breathing behind him as they dashed back into the small chamber. Severus grabbed the man as he went to move past and pulled him to the side. The man yelped at the sudden move and dropped his sword which clattered to the stones as Severus pulled him around and pushed him up against the stone wall beside the tunnel.

Severus picked the sword up and held it in his hands and waited as Blake panted beside him. He could hear the snake as it moved towards them and Severus held the sword up waiting. The best stuck its nose out and Severus smashed the sword down on the beast’s head slicing deep into its skull.

The beast hissed loudly and threw its head to the side, smashing it into the sides of the tunnel and throwing Severus off balance. Severus tumbled to the side as the sword just disappeared from his hands and Blake was rushing in front of him and thrusting the sword up into the beast’s jaw and into its head.

Severus rolled out of the way as Blake cursed and stumbled to the side as the beast crashed down between them, shaking the ground. Severus panted and sat up covered in water, dirt and basilisk blood. Blake’s head appeared over the top of the snake and grinned at him, blood dribbling down the side of his face and soaking into the collar of his dirty shirt.

“Right there, Snape?” Blake called.

Severus picked up a stone next to him and threw it at the man. Blake laughed and used the sword as a cane to move around the beast’s head towards him.

“Hey,” Blake said as he settled down next to Severus. “At least you have your fleshy ingredients now.”

Severus snorted a laugh as he looked over at the other man, the slight glow to his sight making the man’s skin shimmer slightly.

“I’ll even let you keep the profits,” Blake said with a wink.

Blake yelped in surprise when Severus tackled him to the ground.

xXx

Dracka’s nose wrinkled up as a smell crept in to him while he'd been marking papers in his office. He set his pen down on his desk as the smell got stronger. He moved to his feet and across the room to his door. He carefully opened the door before peering into the hallway and held a sleeve over his nose as the smell curled around him.

He stepped into the hallway, hearing voices coming to his right and frowned. He walked towards the sounds, trying to breathe through his mouth. He could make out Blake and Severus’s voices as he crept closer. Even the demon in him, which normally took notice at Blake’s voice, had hid away from him.

“Are you sure there are no more?” Severus questioned from around the corner.

“Yes,” Blake snapped back.

“Well,” Severus drawled. “You didn’t know that one was there!”

“For the last time, Severus.” Blake snapped, making Dracka grin. “There was only the one!”

Dracka heard a sliding noise followed by Blake cursing and he smirked even more. Dracka peeked around the corner and could see Severus standing there in just his shirt and pants with his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at something in a disused girl’s bathroom. The smell that rolled over to him made his nose wrinkle up even more and he noticed the dirt covering Severus and he frowned.

“Are you just going to stand there!?” Blake snapped and Severus smirked as he looked into the bathroom.

“Yes,” Severus drawled drawing out the word, as he tapped a pale wand against his arm.

Dracka snickered and Severus looked over at him and the vampire could see the amusement on the man’s dirty face as Blake swore at him. Severus stepped to the side as Blake’s silver sword came flying from the bathroom and Dracka raised an eyebrow as he crept closer.

“How did I get stuck with doing this?” Blake snapped from the room.

“Because, Mr Sun.” Severus purred. “You have a silver knife and were already covered in dirt and blood.”

Dracka’s curiosity kicked up a notch as he moved closer, that offensive smell getting worse.

“You’re just as dirty as me!” Blake pointed out.

Severus held up the wand in his hand for Dracka to see and the man noticed that it was Blake’s cherry wand.

“But I’m the one holding you to ransom,” Severus smirked back. “And you were nice enough to give me your sword as well. Feel free to give me your other wand, Mr Sun.”

“Smug bastard!” Blake cursed and Dracka heard something splat on the floor.

“What’s he doing?” Dracka hissed from the safety of the side of the doorway.

Severus’s smirked, as he looked into the room his face pale under the dirt.

“Cut the other way!” Severus snapped. “Have you not done this before, Blake?”

“Shut it!” Blake cursed. “You can still come in here and do this yourself!”

“I don’t know, Blake.” Severus said with a smirk. “It looks like you need the practise.”

Severus yelped and skipped to the side as a spell sailed out of the room and he bumped shoulders with Dracka beside the doorway, his hands on his knees as he chuckled softly.

“I didn’t realise you liked poking dragons, Severus.” Dracka hissed.

Severus looked up at him and grinned, dropping years from his face in that one moment.

“Is that Dracka I hear?” Blake yelled.

“We should run,” Severus suggested and grabbed Dracka’s arm.

“Severus?”

“Go,” Severus hissed and pushed Dracka. “There is no way I’m being dragged into helping him.”

“Severus! Dracka!”

xXx

Harry cursed as he cast the spell to clean up the rest of the basilisk blood from the girl’s bathroom. He'd already placed all the parts away in containers and placed them in a trunk to be taken to Diagon Alley, which Severus could do since he knew the right prices and places to sell it all.

“Bloody, Slytherins.” Harry swore as he looked around to make sure the cleaning charm had got everything.

Severus had left him to skin and cut up the damn basilisk, blaming it all on him for the beast. He had even tackled him and stole his wand, the bastard.

“ _Close,”_ Harry hissed to the sinks and the entrance closed.

He was covered in blood and dirt and he was even thinking of using a cleaning charm over his body and put up with the itchy skin, it was that bad. He could deal with small cleaning charms but not a whole body one, the itching always drove him mad until he could wash it off.

With another curse he moved out of the room happy for the fact that it was past curfew, so none of the children would be walking around the hallways as he dismissed his sword and made his way to his rooms.

He wasn’t surprised that Severus wasn’t in the room and he was sure that he'd heard Dracka at some point as he moved into his bathroom and stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower.

The water turned an interesting shade of red-brown as he stuck his head under the water and washed himself off. The bathroom door closed loudly and he looked over wiping water out of his eyes to see Severus grinning at him, fully naked and looking interested.

“Room enough for two?” Severus asked as he stepped in.

Harry grabbed the man and Severus squeaked as he pushed him back into the tiles and held him there as the water ran over his back. Harry grabbed the man’s wrists in one hand as he pinned him to the wall of the shower.

“And here I thought you were smart,” Harry hissed and Severus’s eyes widened.

Harry’s grip around the man’s wrists were like steel as he reached for Severus’s half hard cock with the other and cupped it in his hand. Severus shivered and his cock twitched as Harry looked up at him.

Harry placed a foot in between Severus’s feet and nudged them and the other man moved his feet apart, his eyes guarded as Harry stepped between them.

“Blake?” Severus asked, unsure.

Harry tugged on Severus’s wrists making him lower his head and he snaked a hand behind the man’s head and pulled him down for a rough kiss.

“You owe me,” Harry purred in the man’s ear as he pulled back and kissed his neck.

“Will you take your wand in payment?” Severus purred back, trying to wiggle his hands free without any luck.

Harry chuckled and released the man’s wrists. Severus grabbed his hips and pulled him close as Harry grabbed his ass and thrust his hips up into Severus making the man moan.

“I’ll think about it,” Harry hissed.

Severus turned Harry until his back was against the tiles this time before kneeling down and taking Harry’s cock in his mouth as he played with his balls. Harry let his hands rest on Severus’s shoulders as he moved his feet apart and his head fell back against the wall as Severus worked on him.

Severus’s other hand held his hip as he moved up and down his cock and Harry moaned as the man flicked his tongue across the tip.

“Severus,” Harry groaned as he started to get close and Severus pulled back.

Severus slicked up his hand with the soap and pulled the other man to him as he wrapped his hand around him and with a couple of strokes Harry was coming as the taller man held him. Harry let his head rest on the man's chest as the water washed over them.

“Forgiven?” Severus whispered in his ear and Harry’s cock twitched in Severus’s hand. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Harry huffed a laugh and reached for Severus but the man stepped back as he slicked up his hand and grabbed himself. Harry’s eyes darkened as he leaned back against the shower wall and watched. The water glistening off the other man’s skin as his hand wrapped around his own cock as he worked slowly up and down. Harry could see that Severus was getting close and he stepped forward.

Severus’s dark eyes locked on him as with one more stroke he came as Harry watched him with dark eyes. Severus moved forward and took Harry in a kiss as he placed one hand on the tiles behind the smaller man as he pulled him close.

“That’s different.” Harry said in amusement as they pulled apart.

Severus huffed a laugh as he looked down at him, running a hand up his side.

“Good different or bad?” Severus asked with a smirk.

“Just different,” Harry replied with a laugh as he wrapped his arms around the other man. “And surprisingly a turn on.”

Severus gave him a grin before taking him in another kiss.

 xXx

Ry rolled his eyes at Ginny as Ron and Hermione hissed between each other in front of them. Ginny gave him a grin and mimed the two in front of them with her hands and he smirked as they made their way along the hallway. He glanced over at Neville and Luna behind them as the spoke quietly to each other.

“Why does your father want to meet with us?” Ginny asked softly beside him.

“I don’t know,” Ry replied. “He just called and said that he wanted us to meet him outside his classroom for some reason.”

“You didn’t ask him?” Ginny hissed.

“Well,” Ry said and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s best if you don’t ask him.”

“Why?” Ginny asked.

“Two reasons,” Ry pointed out. “He just gives you that look or he won’t shut up.”

Ron snorted.

“Ry!” Hermione hissed. “He’s your father!”

“Come on, Hermione.” Ry whined. “You take his classes, you know how he is when he gets going. He doesn't stop."

“Hmm,” Hermione hummed as he lips thinned. “At least he knows what he's talking about.”

Ry chuckled as his father came into sight leaning against the wall next to his classroom with Snape, the Headmaster and Draco Malfoy near him. Ry could tell he was tense for he was tapping his wand against his leg as he waited. He looked up and Ry gave him a grin.

“Hey Dad,” Ry called.

Blake pushed away from the wall, his wand disappearing as he placed his cane on the ground and gave Ry a smile.

“Hey everyone,” His father greeted as Ry and his friends came closer. “Headmaster, do you want to lead us to the first staging point?”

“Of course, Blake.” The Headmaster replied with a smile.

The Headmaster led the way down the hallway as the students fell in behind him as Snape and his father walked at the back of the group. He glanced at his father before giving Ginny a smile and falling back to walk next to the man.

“What’s happening?” Ry asked, his eyes flicking over to Snape briefly.

“We need to set up staging points,” Blake said as they walked along. “So that our people can get to the school quickly if we are attacked. We'll need two people at each point to let everyone in. I’m going to key two of you to the wards and the port keys with the Headmaster’s help. Shouldn't take too much time.”

‘ _Yep_ ,’ Ry thought. ‘ _Way too much information_.’

Ry saw Ginny look over her shoulder at them and he gave her a smile but she just turned around quickly while Snape snorted.

“This is the first one, Blake.” Dumbledore announced as he stopped at a nondescript door on the second floor.

“Perfect,” Blake cried and Ry rolled his eyes as his father stepped forward.

Blake placed his hand on the door and closed his eyes and Ry glanced over at Snape to see the amusement in the man. Severus caught his eye and Ry knew they were thinking the same thing as Severus gave him a smirk. His father was talking to the wards.

“Okay,” Blake said, pushing open the door. “Ms Lovegood and Mr Longbottom could you please step into the doorway?”

Ry’s two friends stepped forward, Neville looking around nervously as Luna just glazed around serenely. Once the two students stepped into the doorway, Blake lopped a leather cord around Neville’s neck and another around Luna’s with one pendant hanging from both cords

Blake stood back and pulled out his cherry wand and Neville’s eyes widened as he looked at Blake. His father just grinned and pulled a leather bag out of his pocket and held it out.

“Both of you please hold the bag,” Blake said and Luna took the bag in her hand.

Neville nervously touched the bag with his fingertips.

“It’s not going to bite, Longbottom!” Snape snapped.

Neville jolted and grabbed the bag as Blake glared over his shoulder at the man and Ry sniggered as his father turned back to his friends.

“Okay, I’m going to key you to the wards.” Blake said softly.

Ry could feel the magic around his father as he picked up the wards and placed his wand against the pendent that hung between Luna and Neville as the two of them held the leather bag.

“Headmaster,” Blake said, not looking at the man. “Do I have permission to key Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom as well as the portkeys to the wards?”

“I give you permission,” The Headmaster replied.

Blake tapped the pendent and it broke down the middle into two parts as Blake grabbed the leather bag from Luna and Neville hands.

“You won’t be able to take those off unless I remove them or they run out of magic,” Blake warned as Luna looked at the pendent. “So, I hope you like them.”

Ry and Severus snorted then glanced at each other before looking away.

“Okay Headmaster,” Blake said with a grin, ignoring the others. “Lead on.”

Dumbledore gave the man an amused look before moving off down the hallway with Blake falling in beside the man.

“If he asks you to be keyed into the wards,” Severus said softly beside him and Ry glanced over at the man. “Don’t.”

“What? Why?” Ry asked.

Severus sighed and when he looked at Ry again he could see something unreadable in the other man’s eyes.

“You can’t be keyed to the wards, Ry.” Severus whispered to him as he kept an eye on Blake. “You have a more important job to do.”

Ry paled and he felt a little faint at Snape’s words. The man grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze and Ry hated to admit it but it was moments like now that he could see what his father saw in the man. He nodded his head and Snape released his shoulder as they came to the staging point and Ron and Hermione stepped forward and his father quickly repeated what he had done before.

This time when they set off, Blake lead the way and stopped in front of a statue of a snake on the first floor and turned to Ry, with unreadable eyes.

“Ry could you say ‘open’ in Parselmouth please?” His father asked and Ry frowned.

“Can’t you-Oi!” Ry cut off as Severus elbowed him and he glared up at the man.

“When you are ready, Ry.” His father said in amusement, his green eyes shining.

Ry stepped forward and looked at the statue.

“Open,” Ry said.

“In Parseltongue, Ry.” His father said with a smirk and Ry blushed as Ron laughed.

Ry focused on the statue and tried to imagine that the thing was alive and that the eyes on the stone were slightly flickering with life.

“ _Open_ ,” Ry hissed and the stone snake swung outward to reveal the room beyond.

“Okay, Draco and Ms Weasley please step forward,” Blake said and the two students stepped forward and Blake keyed them and a leather bag to the wards.

Ry looked over at Snape but the man was frowning as he watched Blake. Ry moved back beside him and Severus looked down at him.

“Your father is as cunning as a Slytherin,” Severus hissed at him.

“He’s worse,” Ry whispered back and the two men shared a smirk before they realised who they were agreeing with and turned away.

Blake had just managed to make sure that Ry was needed to open the access point so that Draco and Ginny could open the way into the castle. He had managed to outsmart the two of them in one move and neither could do anything about it.

“Okay,” Blake called out as he closed the snake statue. “When the time comes, your pendent will get warm and you will have to get to your staging point as quickly as possible, both of you will be need to open the way. Ms Weasley and Draco your code word is Slytherin. Anyone coming through here with a portkey will need to say the codeword to pass over. Ms Lovegood and Mr Longbottom your code word is Ravenclaw and Hermione and Mr Weasley your codeword is Gryffindor.

“We will use these points as an evacuation point as well and a codeword will not be needed to pass over,” Blake explained. “Ry you’ll need to open the way here for Draco and Ms Weasley, everyone know what you are doing?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay,” Blake said with a smile. “Off you lot go then.”

Ry grinned as they moved off down the hallway and he fell into step with Ginny.

“How cool does this look?” Ginny cried and held out the pendent for Ry to see.

Ry leaned forward and if his eyes strayed a little while he looked at the pendent, he blamed it on how the light from the windows shone off the metal of the pendent, or that’s what he would say if Ron questioned him later.

xXx

Harry woke with a start as his phone rang, pulling him out of a very pleasant dream of whipped cream, chocolate and Severus Snape. He moved Severus’s arm off him and groped around for his phone before snagging it up by the cord.

“Blake Sun,” Harry whispered into the phone as Severus woke up beside him.

“Blake,” A shaking voice said into the phone. “It’s Conner Fritz.”

“Conner?” Harry echoed and pulled himself into a sitting position. “What’s wrong?”

Severus looked up at him with blinking black eyes and Harry placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We need you to come here.” Conner said softly, his voice breaking. “It’s bad.”

Harry pulled himself out of the bed and started going through his drawers with one hand.

“What’s happened?” Harry demanded.

“The muggle police contacted us,” The man explained. “A small village near the town of Hamburg…he just killed them all.”

Harry’s stomach dropped at the words as his hands stilled with pulling a shirt on and looked over at Severus. The other man must have seen something in his face for he cursed and started dressing as well.

“I’m on my way, don't let anyone in there.” Harry said softly. “I'll meet you at the Ministry?”

“ _Ja_ ,” Conner replied. “Thank you, Blake.”

Harry ended the call then called Dracka.

“What the fuck?”

“Dracka!” Harry snapped, tightening his belt. “German Ministry just called, there has been a mass murder of a town.”

Harry glanced over at Severus when the man swore.

“Severus and I are getting ready to leave now,” Harry replied quickly as he grabbed his bag out of the cupboard. “I need you to stay here and call your Coven and the others to warn them.”

“Alright, Blake.” Dracka said softly. “Stay safe.”

Harry hung up the phone and just looked at it until Severus wrapped his arms around him from behind. Harry leaned back against the man feeling shaky and sick to the stomach, this was not going to be pleasant.

xXx

Harry walked down the silent street, looking down at the bloody bodies that lay out around him, under the glow of the streetlights. Men, women and children with blank staring eyes. He could still taste the dark magic on the air and feel it puffing up like dust at his feet, the corruption of dark arts strong in the magic. He'd hoped that he would never have to see such a sight again and yet here he was.

He stopped walking at the crossroads and looked around. He stood alone after leaving Severus behind at the protection barrier that the Ministry had set up. The other man wasn’t happy but he didn’t want to burden the man with the nightmares. This was something he had to do alone.

A scraping noise had him turning and he faced a misty image of a woman, her throat ripped out staring at him blankly. Harry shivered but didn’t step back as she floated closer.

 _“Make it end,”_ Whispered across his mind. “ _Make it end.”_

Harry stepped forward and worked his way towards the middle of town, the misty forms floating around him, watching him. Harry wasn’t sure if they were real or just a by-product of the dark magic as he walked. He shivered now and again as he walked through the forms as he moved towards the middle of the town and where the ritual had taken place. He could feel the pull.

The taste of the dark magic almost making him gag as the bodies piled up around him, until he came to a stone table still laid out from the ritual. He stopped before the woman’s body, which had been tied down to the stone. Her blonde hair spread around her head and slowly waving in the slight breeze as her blue eyes stared at Harry blankly. She had been cut from throat to pelvis with her ribs cracked open and the cavern of her chest open to the air.

The cawing of crows the only sound around him as he stepped forward, the dark magic was thick on the ground here and he could feel it lapping at his ankles. He looked down at the woman on the stone table and flinched. The woman was missing her heart. Harry stepped back as a crow flew down and landed on the corpse and looked at him with beady black eyes as the first rays of sunlight reached out towards him.

“Take them,” Harry said softly.

The crow tilted its head as it looked at him and cawed loudly, stirring the magic around them.

“Please,” Harry begged.

 _Caw_.

Harry let one knee touch the ground and placed his hands on either side of him as bowed his head.

 _Caw_.

He heard a fluttering of wings around him and kept his head bowed and waited. A single black feather fell to the ground in front of him and Harry looked up at the dark-skinned man before him.

“Why?” The man croaked.

“They died in blood and dark magic.” Harry said softly. “Please take them.”

“What would you give us?” The man asked.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver cord twisted into the shape of a snake with shining black eyes. He held it out to the other man, who took it in his hand with his head cocked to the side as he studied it.

“Agreed,” The man said softly and Harry bowed his head again.

“Thank you,” Harry whispered.

He felt the wind swirl around him as cawing sounded out around the village as the crows descended on the misty forms, taking them on to the next life as the dark magic seeped into the earth at his feet.

Harry looked up at the flashing traffic lights as they flicked through their signals as silence descended once again. He slowly stood with the help of his cane, the village feeling lighter again despite the bodies. He turned away from the woman on the stone bench and moved back to the edge of the protection circle. Empty eyes watching his every step until he came to the edge of the circle and stopped.

“Blake?” Severus asked softly as he came up to the barrier.

“Hey,” Harry said softly, his green eyes hollow.

“Hey,” Severus replied, his eyes flicking over him in concern.

Harry tapped his cherry wand to the protection circle and it dropped.

“Can we move in?” Conner asked his face pale as he came up beside Severus.

“Yes,” Harry said softly. “I hope you haven’t had lunch.”

Harry limped forward as the Ministry workers moved into the village. He didn’t envy their task, it was going to be hard.  Severus took his hand in his and stopped him.

“Blake?” Severus asked softly. “Are you okay?”

Harry rubbed his head

“Yeah,” Harry said softly. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“They don’t need us?” Severus asked, looking around.

“They can handle it,” Harry said softly. “…Please.”

Severus jolted at the word and nodded.

“Let’s go home.”

xXx

Severus watched Blake carefully as they walked up the lawn towards the castle.  He was concerned. The man had barely said two words on the way back to the castle and seemed to be somewhere else. He looked up at the castle to see Dracka in the shadows waiting for them.

Blake didn’t seem to see the vampire, which concerned him even more. He was prepared to enter the village but Blake had insisted and the Ministry workers had warned him that there were spirits and dark magic floating around, that’s why the protection circle had been placed in the first place.

He reached out a hand and curled it around the other man’s arm, stopping him. Blake looked up at him and gave him a small smile but his green eyes looked hollow and haunted.

“Hey,” Severus said softly.

“Hey,” Blake replied.

Severus brought the man’s hand up and kissed his fingers, the ring he'd given him glinting in the sun.

“Is this our first date, Mr Snape?” Blake asked softly with a smile, but the joke fell short.

Severus smiled, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders at the weak joke.

“Hurry up you two!”

Severus gave the vampire the finger over his shoulder. Blake grinned wider as neither man looked away from the other.

“Are you okay?” Severus asked softly, his hand cupping the other man’s face.

“No,” Blake replied, his voice breaking on the word.

Severus took the man in a tight hug, rubbing his hands up and down the man’s back. Blake held him tightly, his head buried in his chest.

“Hurry the fuck up!”

Blake snorted and pulled back, looking up at the vampire standing as close to the sunlight he could get.

“We better head up there,” Blake said softly. “Before Dracka burns himself.”

Blake stepped forward but Severus didn't release his arm. The man turned to him in question and Severus grinned.

“He could do with a couple of burn marks,” Severus smirked.

Blake returned his smirk and gave Severus’s shoulder a smack. He smiled briefly as they made their way up the front lawn of the castle and towards the vampire waiting for them.


	16. Chapter Thirty Two

Harry stared down at the closed file in front of him, ignoring the feeling of Severus's dark eyes watching him. He hadn’t even touched the coffee the man had placed before him on the table as he gathered his thoughts together. Harry looked up and met Severus’s eyes before glancing at the Headmaster then Dracka. His eyes lingered on the vampire until the man raised an eyebrow in question.

“So, yeah.” Harry said quietly. “We have a knew Dark Lord.”

Dracka cursed as Severus and the Headmaster paled.

“We were called to Germany after the Ministry got a phone call from the police about a mass murder in a small village.” Harry said softly and opened the file. “The Ministry moved in and a man call Conner Fritz called me. They quickly realised that dark arts had been used and placed a protection charm around the area. I’m still waiting for the full report…”

“When we got there, the Ministry was set up outside the protection circle,” Severus continued, when Harry just looked at the file. “Minister Fritz informed us there were misty forms floating around the village. They waited for Blake to arrive before they could go in to collect the bodies.”

“I left Severus outside the wards,” Harry took up the story. “The dark magic was coating the ground, the ghosts of the dead roaming the streets. The crows took them.”

Harry stopped talking, he could still feel the dusting of dark magic on his arms. The corrupted feeling of dark arts.

“Crows?” Severus whispered.

“The crows are half in this world and half in the spirit world,” Dracka explained. “They can ferry spirits from this world to the next, for a price.”

Three sets of eyes landed on Harry.

“It was a small offering,” Harry said softly. “They took the spirits with them when they left.”

“That was enough for them?” Dracka asked with a frown.

“Um,” Harry muttered, without looking up as he rubbed his arm. “It was from me.”

“What does that mean, Blake?” Severus asked softly.

Harry cupped the back of his head before running them forward over his hair, spiking it up.

“Plus, a token.” Harry said reluctantly. “They were happy with the agreement.”

“So,” Albus said changing the topic. “Graham Simpson has become a Dark Lord?”

“Yes,” Harry confirmed. “But it will take him time to get used to the power. So, we have that on our side. With the amount of dark magic floating around from the ritual, his power is going to be strong. I just hope it gives us enough time to plan.”

“What kind of time frame?” Albus asked.

“Um,” Harry replied as he sat back in his seat. “Maybe six months if he pushes it. Longer, if we are lucky."

“The students leave in about four months,” Albus said absentmindedly.

“Yes,” Harry agreed. “The Dark Lord will probably attack before then and as bad as it seems we may not have to face two Dark Lords at the same time. If everything goes to plan.”

Severus shivered at those words and Harry shared a look with him, facing Voldemort would be enough.

“I will get my people out to see if we can pick up Simpson’s trail,” Dracka suggested.

“He will pick up on their dark curse first,” Harry said softly, then added without thought. “Dark power, pulls dark power.”

“What’s that, my boy?” Albus asked, sitting forward in his seat.

Dracka coughed and looked away and Harry felt the same, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“Blake?” Severus asked softly.

Harry got up and moved over to the kitchen.

“Hey!” Dracka yelped. “I’m not fielding this one!”

Harry dropped a bowl onto the table loudly and glared at the vampire. Dracka flinched back then gave him a sly smile that put Severus on edge. Harry pulled his cherry wand and held it to his temple as he pulled away a silver strand and placed it into the bowl.

“It's easier to show you,” Harry said softly. “Vampires first.”

Dracka grinned and touched the silver strand and disappeared.

“Well,” Harry said softly to the others “Off you go.”

Severus hesitantly touched the memory and disappeared along with the Headmaster. Harry sighed and reached forward.

xXx

Severus looked around at the battlefield in interest, a large dragon roared to the left of them, its green scales shining under the full moon. Werewolves, vampires and wizards fought around them, looking like chaos to Severus's untrained eye. There was a forest to his right as snarls and yells echoed around the grounds. He could see people moving through the trees behind them and a mansion slightly up on a hill in front of them.

A group of about twenty people appeared at the tree line and formed up.

“Alpha right,” A short man with shaggy black hair ordered and Severus frowned.

The man stood at the head of the group in only a dragon hide vest and pants. The pants clinging like a second skin to the man’s legs as he looked over his men. At his belt hung a silver sword, a muggle gun and a wand. On the other side were a leather pouch and a silver dagger. The power in the man's body clear to see, every time he moved, as he directed people into place. The man’s skin seemed to glow slightly in the moonlight as they watched the scene from a slight distance. The man looking slightly familiar to Severus and he frowned as he looked the man over.

“Beta left,” The man ordered. “Echo, Delta stay as back up. Charlie with me. Keep in contact at all times.”

“Yes, sir!”

Four people peeled off to the left along the tree line as the other team of four moved to the right. The lean man stepped forward and pulled his sword as a force lined up before them. Severus could see their red eyes flashing from where he stood next to Dracka. He glanced at the vampire but the man was focused on the man giving orders, a glint in his eyes.

“Beta in position?” The man asked. “Beta confirmed. Alpha?”

Suddenly the man looked up and towards Severus and he froze as those green eyes looked through them. He was looking at a young version of his lover. The dark messy hair around his head reminding him of Ry and as he ran a hand over his head, he caught sight of the faint line of the curse scar and he gasped as his eyes widened. He looked closer and could just make out a few thin lines of scaring on the man's upper arms.

“Alpha Confirmed,” The man asked, his voice carrying.

“This might get confusing,” Blake said next to him startling Severus. “We are talking between each team via a small device in our ear that we use to communicate with each other. You are looking at Harry Potter in action.”

Blake winked at Severus, when he looked over at him with wide eyes. Blake sounded like he was talking about another person and not himself and he frowned. Was this the way Blake thought of his younger self, as a different person?

“Charlie ready?” Harry Potter questioned, drawing Severus's attention back to the scene.

“Yes, sir.”

Potter held the silver sword in his right hand as he palmed his dark wand in the other and stepped forward.

“Alpha, Beta now!” Potter shouted as he moved forward with a grace Severus had never seen before, his team of four behind him.

The vampires jumped forward, red eyes and fangs flashing. Potter moved right into the middle of them without pause with his silver sword flashing in the night and they lost him for a few minutes as he clashed with the vampires, with sword and magic.

“Holy fuck,” Dracka muttered next to him.

Potter appeared again as he ran a vampire through and danced back, light on his feet as he ducked and thrust his sword into the next vampire, gutting him.  He moved like he had been born with the sword in his hand. Always moving, never missing a step as his team backed him up, but gave him space to work. A vampire lunged at Potter and he danced to the side as he brought his sword’s hilt down on the back of the man’s head with a loud crack. His other two teams moving in on the sides while the vampires were distracted by Potter.

Wizards and witches started to notice the teams and tried to get through to back up the vampires. One wizard got through Potter’s left-hand team and pulled his wand, a green light forming at the tip. In one fluid movement, without breaking off his fight with a vampire, Potter dropped his wand and pulled the gun at his belt and shot the man dead. Bullet through the head before he jumped back into the fray again.

Severus sucked in a breath at the move and glanced over at Dracka to see his shock reflexed there. He was seeing his lover in a different light as the man fought. There was a coldness in the way that Potter acted, almost in a detached way as he took down another vampire. Severus could only guess at what point in time they were seeing this scene but he knew from the sight of the scars that is was after the man had been tortured. So, after he had retried from being an Auror and the fact that he didn't recognise anyone else, he was sure that it was further in the future than he'd first believed. Severus also got the feeling this was nearing the end of the time that Blake would go by the name Harry Potter.

Suddenly a ripple went through the ground and people as the dragon roared in the distance. The fighting seemed to pause around them, like everyone had taken a breath and were waiting for something. Except Potter, he never stopped moving.

“Retreat!” Potter barked, eyes wide. “Retreat! Dark teams pull back, Light teams cover! Move!”

Potter swung his sword to the side pushing a vampire back as his teams broke and retreated but the vampires moved in quickly to block him. The man barred his teeth and jumped forward, his wand appearing in his hand as he flicked it out sending a lash of fire towards the vampires but the wizards were starting to gain ground. Moving in to support the vampires.

A wizard stepped into Potter's path bringing him up short.

Potter flicked the fire lash towards the wizard but he just hit a shield. Potter dropped his wand and slashed through the man’s shield with his sword, dropping it, just to run into the knife the man was holding in wait. Potter kept going, smashing his swords hilt into the man’s chin dropping him. The man was surrounded, his teams holding ground but not moving forward to help him. Potter stepped back and Severus could see the blood running down his side just below his rib cage. The man's green eyes flicking around, assessing everything around him and Severus's gut clenched at the wild look in the man's eyes. He knew he was trapped and was willing to go down fighting.

“Now, now boys.” A woman’s voice called out and everyone froze.

Severus turned to see a woman in a tight red dress walking calmly across the battlefield. Her pale blonde hair glowing in the moonlight with a werewolf padded along at her heels, as if they were just out for an evening stroll and not on a battle ground. The woman would have been in her late sixties but no one would say she wasn't beautiful as he walked along calmly with a power around her that Severus could almost feel.

Everything stilled around them as all eyes turned in the woman’s direction and it seemed that everyone took a breath, waiting.

The woman smiled showing perfect teeth as her green eyes focused on the scene before her. The smile alone, making people around her lower their weapons and the dark creatures' eyes to glow red in the night as they stepped back.

“Harry, dear.” The woman said softly as she moved closer, people parting before her, heads slightly bowed. “I didn’t realise you were coming, love.”

Potter stood up straighter, his sword held loosely in his hand. A cold look in his eyes as he watched the woman.

“Melissa,” The man whispered, looking pale and shaky but there was also a hardness.

“Have you come to join me?” The woman asked as if asking for a dance at a ball.

Potter slowly placed the sword back through the loop on his belt and stepped forward. The woman waved her hand and the people around them moved back without question, leaving a space between them and everyone else. Potter’s teams slipping further back into the tree line.

“No,” Potter replied calmly to the woman’s question.

Melissa laughed lightly before her green eyes locked onto Potter and the man tensed.

“Dark power, pulls dark power. Harry, my love." The woman said softly, her voice carrying on the air. "You will come to me eventually, it's in your nature as a Dark Wizard.”

Potter stepped forward until he stood toe to toe with the woman both almost the same height. Melissa gave him a tender smile and Severus shivered at the look in the woman's eyes.

“You think that?” Potter hissed.

“I can feel the dark power under your skin, love.” The woman said with a smile, running a finger up the man’s arm. “It’s already reaching out to me as we stand here.”

Potter reached forward and cupped the woman’s cheek, a very intimate move on a battlefield. Potter's body language closed as he looked into the woman's eyes and even Severus couldn't pick up on what the man was feeling and he felt a coldness in his stomach at the thought. He felt like he was looking at a stranger and not a man that he knew intimately.

“You think that?” Potter repeated, no emotion in his voice.

“You will come to me,” The woman said softly, with conviction. “Your dark power will pull you.”

Potter let his hand fall as his lips twisted up in a dark smile as he looked up through his hair at the woman with shining green eyes. The breath caught in Severus’s throat at the sight.

“You forget, Melissa.” Potter said softly.

“What is that, my love?”

“I have light power too!” Potter hissed.

“No!”

The woman screamed as Potter flicked his hand and a sword of light magic appeared arching towards her. A dark shield flared to life and Potter pushed forward with his light sword against the dark shield as his teams broke cover. Gunshots ringing out on the night air.

Suddenly the memory ended and Severus found himself back in Blake’s room with the others.

xXx

“Dark power, pulls dark power,” Harry said softly. “Every Dark Lord falls into the same trap.”

Dracka wouldn’t meet his eye and even Severus and the Headmaster looked shaken by the scene.

“They all believe that anyone with dark power will come to them,” Harry said into the silence. “That they will shed their humanity to follow them. For that’s what they did to get their power. Yes, dark power does pull on those that have dark magic, but it's will power that separates them from blindly following a Dark Lord.”

“Blake,” Dracka rumbled.

“Um, well.” Harry stuttered. “The more dark power they have, the harder it is to resist. Don’t get it into your heads that it’s just people with dark magic either, light magic can be pulled just as easily, it’s just they have a better defence. The woman you saw…”

Harry trailed off trying to gather his thoughts together as the others waited him out.

“She had the darkest power I have ever felt,” Harry said softly. “You could taste it on the air and feel it moving under your skin. Your knees would shake and your hand waver and she knew how to wield it.  She had worked with that dark power for a long time, perfecting the art of being a Dark Lord. She'd been in no hurry to get to her goals. She didn't care if it took her ten years or a hundred to get what she wanted.”

Severus reached out and placed a hand on Harry’s arm, offering his silent support.

“What happened to her?” Albus asked softly.

“Um,” Harry stuttered and looked away from Severus. “A man named Ben Cooper. He came up with a light spell…”

“What did it do?” Dracka questioned.

“It sent her mad,” Harry replied, still remembering the woman’s dying screams. “It allowed the spirits of all the people she had killed to attack her mind.”

“You and her…” Dracka let the sentence trail off.

Harry sat back in his seat with a raised eyebrow.

“You seemed to be close…” Dracka leered.

“I have that effect on people,” Harry smirked. “Must be my rugged good looks.”

“Maybe when you were younger,” Dracka muttered. “I have that image in my head now.”

Harry kicked him under the table and felt satisfied when the man yelped.

xXx

Dracka glanced over at Blake as they entered the Ministry of Magic a week after Simpson had done his Ritual. The man may have looked calm as they made their way to the reception desk but Dracka knew the man well and could see the tension in the man's body and the sharp look in his eyes as he looked over the crowds. The last week had been hard for the man.

"I hate coming in this way," Blake muttered softly beside him and Dracka noticed his eyes were on the statute of the wizard lording it over everyone else. "I swear that a Malfoy had something to do with that."

Dracka snorted.

"Where do you normally come in?" Dracka asked in interest.

"Straight into the Department," Blake replied. "Can't do that with you with me."

Dracka tensed at those words and Blake glanced over at him and gave him a grin.

"Due to you not having a badge," Blake expanded.

Dracka flashed his fangs at the man and a few wizards and witches gave them space. They quickly handed their wands over to the wizard on duty and the man looked his wand over for a while before passing it back to Dracka. Blake just glared at the man and they were through quickly after that.

There were more than a few whispers as they made their way to the Minister of Magic's office and Dracka wasn't sure if it was him or Blake that drew the stares. They came to the Minister's outer office and Blake paused when he spotted a rough looking man with blonde hair and a scar running across his face.

"That's my boss," Blake said. "Dylan Dogwood. I'll just be a minute."

Dracka waited as Blake limped forward and he could tell that Blake had pulled up a silencing charm around them. He looked the other man over, he was heavy set and a head taller than Blake making the other man look small as he stood next to him as the man glared down at Blake with a dark look in his eyes.

Dracka had to hold himself back as he could tell that Dogwood wasn't happy with Blake and he was sure that more than a few swearwords were being thrown at the smaller man from the one time that he had heard Dogwood on the phone. Blake just leaned on his cane and gave a nod now and again as they spoke.

"Better him than me." Sergeant Miller said as he moved towards Dracka. "He's been growling at everyone since Blake called us last week. How are you Mr Dracka?"

"I'm well," Dracka replied, his eyes not leaving Blake and Dogwood. "Are you staying for the meeting?"

"No," Miller replied simply. "I'm just here to get the reports off Blake. We've been on alert since Blake called which Dylan isn't impressed with."

 The two men looked over as Blake and Dogwood came towards them.

"Miller," Blake greeted and pulled the man in for a quick hug. "How are you?"

"Still kicking around," Miller replied with a grin. "Do you have those files."

"Yes," Blake replied and pulled out a small box from his pocket and held it out.

"Thanks, Blake." Miller said with a smile as he took the box and slipped it away in his pocket.

"Dylan, this is Rolf Dracka." Blake introduced. "Dracka this is Dylan Dogwood the Head of the Department of Mysteries."

Dracka took the man's hand, his grip strong and hand rough in his. He resisted the urge to flash his fangs at the man, a vampire response, as they looked each other over. Sizing each other up.

"I hear you have been scaring the children at Hogwarts?" Dylan growled. "After a werewolf and a Death Eater, a vampire must have been the logical progression from there for that position."

Dracka wasn't sure what way to take that.

"Dylan," Blake warned and Dogwood barked a laugh with a glint in his eyes.

"I hope you like the Squirts I sent your way," Dylan said with a smirk. "Better than sipping on the students, I tell you. More fun to wrangle as well, they give you more of a fight than any student. If you can keep away from their bloody claws."

Dracka's eyes darted between Dogwood and Blake.

"Don't mind him, Dracka." Blake said softly. "He just wanted to get rid of the animals and thought they would make a good snack for a vampire."

"Good luck," Miller whispered in Dracka's ear and clapped his hand to his shoulder before bidding them goodbye and walking off.

Dracka looked after the man before looking back at Blake and Dogwood and felt envy for Miller for being able to walk away.

"Right," Dylan growled. "Is it time to scare the shit out of the Minister? We can send the vampire in first…no wait. Blake you go first."

Blake groaned as Dracka glanced between the two men.

"Um, sir?"

The three men turned to Percy Weasley standing there, nervously fiddling with his hands and looking pale under his freckles.

"The Minister is ready for you," Percy announced timidly.

"Perfect!" Dylan barked. "I hope you got my coffee right this time, Weasley!"

"Yes, sir." Percy replied quickly. "Please follow me."

"We know where his bloody office is!" Dylan snapped.

"Thank you, Percy." Blake said softly.

Percy quickly nodded and dashed off as Dylan watched him.

"Shame he didn't take after Arthur," Dylan muttered as Blake fell into step with him.

Dracka followed behind the two as the spoke quietly. He was unsure about Blake's relationship with the other man but they seemed to know each other very well. Not even Severus knew how long that Blake had worked for the Department. Since Blake didn't or couldn't talk about the work he'd done for them.

They came to the Minister's door and Dylan just barged through the door without knocking with Blake sighing and sharing a look with Dracka as he closed the door behind them. Dracka could feel it when Blake pulled up some wards around the room and he tensed slightly.

"It's called knocking, Dogwood!" The Minister snapped from behind his desk and Dracka could tell this meeting had already started out on the wrong foot.

"Weasley said that you were ready for us," Dylan replied mildly. "I didn't believe knocking was needed."

Blake looked over at Dracka and gave him a wink as he came to stand next to the man.

"It's called manners," Minister Rufus Scrimgeour countered. "Something you missed in your training, amongst other subjects."

Dylan gave a laugh as he moved to the long table and took a seat as he pulled out a few files and resized them. The Minister moved around his desk to stand in front of Dracka and Blake.

"Mr Blake Sun," Scrimgeour greeted as his gold eyes looked Blake over before he glanced at him. "And Mr Rolf Dracka."

"Thank you for meeting with us, Minister." Blake said calmly as he held out his hand and the Minister took it.

"Dogwood didn't give me much of a choice in the matter," Scrimgeour replied sourly before shaking Dracka's hand.

"He can be convincing," Blake agreed.

"He can be inpatient as well," Dylan growled over at them from the table.

Blake gave a laugh as he moved over to sit next to the man while Dracka sat next to him and the Minister took a seat on the other side of the table and looked them over.

"I'm assuming this is about Graham Simpson?" The Minister questioned, once everyone was comfortable with their drinks in front of them and all the files had been resized and sorted out.

Blake picked up a file that Dracka noticed had his number on it as well as Blake's name and the Gringotts's crest and seal. He flicked it over to the Minister. The man frowned as he placed his hand on it.

"In part," Blake replied. "You should have received the files about the dark ritual in Germany that Deputy Minster Conner Fritz called me about last week."

The Minister picked up a file and held it up in answer.

"Not a pleasant read," Blake said softly and Dracka could see the haunted look in the man's eyes. "We now have two Dark Lords to contend with and you know they don't care about borders."

"We have enough problems with you-know-who," Scrimgeour muttered. "Than having to worry about a Dark Lord in Germany."

"Ha!" Dylan barked. "Simpson already made an attack in France before he even became a Dark Lord and he had giants backing him up. There is nothing stopping him from striking here. The man was originally from the States, borders mean nothing to him."

"Yes, his attack against the Council of Magical Creatures," Scrimgeour said softly as his eyes moved to Dracka. "Which the Department and Aurors helped with by the way. I've read the reports."

"We stopped him that time," Blake said softly. "Since he didn't expect us to come to their aid. We then did a scouting mission on one of his compounds which resulted in a lot of intel and a dark artefact being retrieved that will help us against the Dark Lord."

"The down side to that was the fact that the man knew we had been there," Dylan remarked and Dracka started unaware that the man knew about that. "We've been working with the information that we gained but this Simpson is a slippery son of a bitch."

"We lost him," Blake said. "We knew he had the knowledge to do a Dark Ritual but he made no waves or moves to act on that until I received the call from Conner."

"The bastard gave us no warning," Dylan growled. "We were aware he had the information but there were no whispers before he acted. The bastard was able to blindside us."

"Dracka?" Blake asked turning to him. "Please tell the Minister what your contacts have said."

"Mr Dogwood is correct," Dracka said carefully. "We had no warning until Blake received the phone call. He has now dropped off the map and we haven't been able to pick up on him."

"We can only assume that he has something or someone blocking him so that we can't find him," Blake summed up. "Since if there is a dark power to find, a vampire will be able to sniff it out. Like a blood hound."

Dracka flashed his fangs at Blake and the man gave him a grin as the Minister pulled back in his seat from them.

"However," Blake said turning back to the Minister. "We also have another Dark Lord to focus on. We are getting plans in place at Hogwarts."

The Minister snorted.

"Dumbledore playing soldier," Scrimgeour scoffed.

"And has a valid reason to," Dylan growled and the Minister paled as his eyes flicked between them.

"Explain," Scrimgeour demanded.

"The Dark Lord will attack Hogwarts," Blake said softly and Dracka watched in interest as the Minister's gold eyes locked onto Blake.

"How would you know this?" Scrimgeour asked slowly.

"For I have already lived this time," Blake replied and Dracka froze.

"What is this!" Scrimgeour snapped as he rose to his feet with his hands planted on the table. "The use of a time turner is restricted, Sun! Dogwood explain!"

"This has nothing to do with me," Dylan said mildly as he sat back in his chair.

The Minister's eyes locked onto Blake and Dracka could feel the tension in the room. Blake just looked back calmly at the man before him.

"My birth name is Harry James Potter," Blake said softly and the Minister paled. "I was born on the thirty-first of July 1980 to James and Lily Potter. I am from a future timeline."

The Minister fell back in his seat in shock, then his eyes were drawn to the file that Blake had flicked at him earlier, he opened it and swore. He looked up at Blake with wide gold eyes.

"I also hold the Deathly Hallows," Blake said softly and Dylan swore this time.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Scrimgeour questioned after a few minutes of silence.

"You have to understand what is at stake here, Minister." Blake said calmly. "What could have happened and hasn't and what will happen if we don't act correctly."

Blake reached into his jacket and pulled out a vial and placed it on the table, a silver liquid swirling inside of it and Dracka sucked in a breath. Blake had placed a memory in that vial. Blake gave it a soft flick and it rolled across the table to the Minister.

"When we met that first time," Blake said softly. "I gave you a warning. This is what would have happened if you have not heeded it. We'll wait here for you."

Scrimgeour looked them over as he picked up the vial in his hand, his gold eyes looking each of them over.

"I haven't got all day, Minister." Dylan growled. "I have a Department to yell at. They don't motivate themselves."

Scrimgeour lips twisted up in a smile before he moved over to his desk and placed the memory in the bowl before disappearing.

"I hope this works, Blake." Dylan snapped.

"Self-preservation is a good motivator," Blake said calmly but Dracka could see the tension in the man. "We need his support for this to work."

Dracka looked the man over and Blake raised his eyebrow in question.

"What are you hoping to achieve?" Dracka asked softly.

"We need all the support we can get," Blake replied. "Every time we make a hit against the Dark Lord he gains support again. For a half blood, he knows how to stir up the pure bloods."

Dylan swore at him, putting Dracka on edge.

"Except you, Dylan." Blake added in amusement. "You are a shining beacon of what a pure blood can be."

"Don't you forget it, Sun." Dylan growled as he gave the man a smile.

The three men fell into silence until the Minster appeared looking pale with wide eyes as he scooped up the memory and placed it away in the vial. The man made his way around the table and held the vial out.

"Let me make one thing clear, Sun." Scrimgeour growled. "I think you are arrogant and have no respect for people in power. A Dark Wizard making waves here in the Ministry and the magical world."

Dracka growled slightly and Blake placed a hand on his knee and he settled as the Minister glared at Blake. This was between the two wizards.

"You have placed yourself in a position of power," Scrimgeour went on. "You have power in the Department and the Auror department and you hold the Ministry to ransom with your contracts. You have Albus Dumbledore's ear and the goblins of Gringotts in your pocket. You also have the Council of Magical Creatures on your side. You work like a Dark Lord, Sun."

Blake's hand tightened on Dracka's knee but he said nothing.

"Minister," Dylan warned in a growl, his own eyes flashing.

"Except for your goals. Your work speaks for itself and so far has been a benefit to this Ministry and the magical world in general," Scrimgeour said reluctantly. "You nudge people to make their own choices and I now know why."

Scrimgeour looked Blake over from the cane beside him to Dracka and Dogwood on either side of him.

"You have power," Scrimgeour said with a cold look in his eyes. "And I don't mean the magic you hold."

"Are you done pointing out my faults?" Blake asked softly, a hard look in his eyes.

"I wouldn't count them as faults," Scrimgeour said with a twisted smile. "You have the support of the Ministry."

The Minister's gold eyes bore into Blake at those words.

"But let me make my point clear," Scrimgeour growled. "The moment you step over that line, Sun. Is the moment we put you down."

"If that day comes," Blake said softly and Dracka shivered at the tone in his voice. "Is the moment that I let you."

Scrimgeour gave him that twisted smile and held out his hand which Blake took in his.

"Thank you," Scrimgeour whispered and Dracka started in surprise. "Now, we have plans to make, let me call up the Head of the Auror department and ruin his day as well."

The Minister moved over to his desk and Dylan turned on Blake.

"What the fuck was in that memory?" Dylan hissed.

"His death," Blake said softly and both men shivered.

xXx

Harry sighed as Dracka and him moved out of the office at last, he felt wrung out but at least between the Council, Department, the Aurors and the Ministry they were finally on the same page. He glanced over at Dracka and could tell the man felt a little overwhelmed by everything and he bumped his shoulder against the vampire.

"Feel like a drink?" Harry offered as he looked at his watch. "I know a few good bars around London. Some that look the other way when someone wanders down an alley with someone in tow."

Dracka perked up at that and Harry gave him a grin. Vampires were so much easier to deal with than the Ministry.

"It's a school night," Dracka pointed out.

"I don't have classes in the morning and you have vampire healing," Harry replied mildly as they made their way back up to the main reception area of the Ministry.

"That almost sounds like a date," Dracka said with a leer.

Harry gave him a grin as they moved to the apparation point.

"I think you've been at the school for too long," Harry commented. "You can branch out you know, see other people."

Dracka barked a laugh as they stepped into the apparation room and Harry grabbed his hand and apparated them to a bar he knew. Harry lead the way to the front doors of the tavern, the sound of live music spilling out of the open doors as they moved passed the two security men at the door and into the venue.

Harry liked this place for it was over two floors with the main bar and dance floor on the first floor and more of a dining area and second bar on the second floor over-looking the stage and dance floor. It also had a roof top bar but that was only open for events. Harry weaved through the crowds with Dracka behind him and called out two beers to the man behind the bar.

They moved to a bench at the back of the room and Harry glanced over at Dracka to see him eyeing off a few people. He was sure the vampire was hungry, since he didn't get as much of a chance to feed while being at the school. Harry sipped on his beer as he let the noise roll over him and the tension in his shoulders eased. The images of what he'd found in Germany fading slightly as he let his mind wander.

It had been a hard few weeks and the mess with Simpson hadn't helped his mind. He hadn't realised how much he needed this until they had walked through the doors. To just relax and unwind since he hadn't been sleeping very well and his thoughts just wouldn't settle. He turned to Dracka but the man was eyeing off a woman across the room.

"Do you have a preference?" Harry asked in interest.

Dracka started and looked over at him and Harry nodded to the woman.

"When feeding?" Dracka whispered back.

"Yes," Harry replied as he finished off his beer.

"Depends on where I am," Dracka replied softly. "Not going to have much luck picking up a woman at a male gay bar."

Harry barked a laugh at that as he grabbed Dracka's empty bottle.

"Go on," Harry said with a smirk. "I'm going to go upstairs to get something to eat. While you have your fill."

Dracka gave him a look and Harry paused.

"It doesn't bother you?" Dracka asked.

Harry just gave him a lopsided grin before leaning close to him.

"I never forget what you are, Dracka." Harry whispered in the vampire's ear.

Dracka reeled back from him with wide eyes.

"And no," Harry said with a smirk. "It didn't bother me at the Death Eater Prison why should it bother me here."

Harry turned and moved away from the man and made his way up the stairs to order some food and call Severus.

xXx

Dracka watched the wizard walk away unsure by the man's words. Blake had a way of creeping you out and even if the man was completely human he acted more like a vampire or dark creature than Dracka would like to admit.

Dracka's eye caught on the woman that he'd spotted before as he weaved his way through the crowds. He moved with the people, dancing as the music blared and he lost himself to the smell and taste of the crowd. His demon purring as he moved closer to the woman and gave her a sly grin and she blushed nicely. He used a little magic to brush against her and she shivered.

Blake had brought them to a muggle bar as he moved closer to the woman and leaned in to whisper in her ear and she giggled as he let his hands rest on her hips as she fell under his spell. Not that it took much, with the feel of the place, the alcohol he could smell on her breath and that was before mentioning the way that she was looking him over. He glanced over at the woman's friends and gave them a grin and they turned away with a giggle.

He moved his hands on the woman's hips and slipped them under her shirt as they danced closer and the woman grabbed his ass and pulled him flush with her body as they moved to the music. It was very easy for Dracka to kiss her on the neck before with a touch of magic he gently slid his fangs into her throat and she moaned under his hands as they moved together.

He only took a few sips before kissing up her neck, tasting the sweat on her skin as she panted in his ear before moving back down her neck. He slid his fangs back into the same spot and she moaned louder this time as his magic washed over them. Blake's words coming back to him as the woman held him close as they moved together.

He knew how easy it was for people to forget that he was a dark creature until they saw his red eyes, when the demon was close to the surface of his thoughts, or when he showed off his fangs. Blake was different for a wizard, he was a man that knew vampires and their language as much as any other vampire. Dracka hated to admit it but he sometimes forgot that the man wasn't like him even if he could feel the man's dark magic under his skin and it wasn't until Blake would lash out that he would be reminded, normally painfully of the fact that the man was a wizard and not a vampire.

xXx

Harry had lost count of the beers he'd had when Dracka found him sprawled out in a bench seat on the second floor. The vampire gave him a leer as he moved to sprawl out beside him. His legs touching his and Harry could tell that the man had taken his fill.

"Enjoy yourself?" Harry asked with a grin.

Dracka flashed his fangs at him lazily and Harry smirked as he finished off his beer and wiggled it at the bar tender. The man gave him a grin and a nod. Harry placed the beer with the other empty bottles on the table and Dracka looked them over.

"How many of those have you had?" Dracka asked as he looked the table over before looking at him.

"Lost count," Harry replied. "I called Severus earlier to give him the heads up that we'll be back late."

"Should I avoid the man tomorrow?" Dracka asked in amusement.

"I'm thinking I might need to avoid him tonight," Harry remarked as he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a couple of bills as the bar tender placed two beers on the table. "Thank you."

The man took the bills with a grin and gave them a once over before walking off with a slight sway to his steps. Harry felt Dracka take an interest next to him.

"He's mine," Harry said blandly as he picked up the new beer. "Do you know how hard it is to train a good bar tender?"

Dracka barked a laugh as he picked up the other beer and glanced around. It was getting late and recorded music had taken over from the band. He was a little surprised by the crowd on a Thursday night but they were in London. Three women stepped off the steps and spotted Dracka and the vampire smiled as they made their way over to them.

"Dracka," One of the women said loudly. "There you are."

"You found me," Dracka replied. "Have a seat, my love."

The woman took a seat next to Dracka and glanced over at Harry, she couldn't have been older than twenty-five and her two friends would be around the same age as they moved to sit next to her and gave him a look before turning to each other. Dracka wrapped his arm around the woman's shoulders and pulled her close as he took a sip of his beer.

"This is my friend, Blake." Dracka said to the woman. "Blake this is Rebecca and her two friends. Ally and Connie."

"Nice to meet you," Blake replied as he signalled to the bar tender.

The man made his way over with a grin and took their orders and Harry gave him a card.

"Start a tab, Please." Harry said with a smile. "Add in a nice tip for yourself."

"Thank you," The man replied with a grin as he leaned forward and picked up the empty glasses making sure to keep his eyes locked on Harry as his shirt hung low.

The man finished picking up the bottles and moved off with a sly grin over his shoulder and a sway to his hips and Harry watched him casually.

"I think he likes you, Blake." Dracka said casually as the man moved back around the bar and Harry held up his hand with Severus's ring on it.

"Taken, love." Harry replied with a smirk at the vampire.

"Oh!" Rebecca cried as she looked between the bar tender and Harry before turning to her friends with a giggle.

"Really?" Harry said dryly to Dracka.

The vampire just flashed his fangs at him.

xXx

Dracka glanced over at Blake as they made their way down the street with his arm around Rebecca as the other man spoke quietly to Ally and Rebecca was talking to Connie beside her. It had surprised him how much alcohol the man could put away and he wondered if the man would still be standing if it weren't for his cane.

They came to a fancy hotel and the women moved them through the reception area and into the lift. Rebecca suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss and he returned it, tasting the alcohol as he deepened the kiss. They piled out of the lift and the woman pushed him into the wall as Blake and her friends moved off to the women's hotel room. He growled slightly as the woman grabbed him through his pants.

"I have my own room," Rebecca whispered in his ear as she rubbed him. "I'm sure Ally and Connie will keep your friend entertained for a while."

"Lead the way, my dear." Dracka purred.

She did just that, they barely made it through the door before the woman was pulling his shirt over his head and running her hands down his sides and he was unbuckling his belt as she stepped back to slip out of her shirt and pants, until they both stood naked as Dracka moved them back towards the bed.

She slipped a condom out of her bag and held it out to him and he paused to palm it before he pushed her back onto the bed and moved between her legs before rolling the condom on as he braced himself above her.

The woman gave him a grin and pulled him close as he pushed forward and she threw her head back as he entered her. He took his time as he rocked his hips forward before increasing his speed as he dipped forward and bit down on the woman's neck and she cried out as her nails dug into his back as she came.

He paused briefly before moving faster and harder and she wrapped her legs around his waist and met him for every thrust as she moaned and groaned under him. He pulled back from feeding as with one last, hard thrust he came. His hips rocking forward a couple of times as he came down from his high. He could feel his magic brushing his skin and he shivered at the feeling.

He rolled to the side as Rebecca panted and he gave her a sly smile. He ran his hand down her side feeling the soft skin under his hand before sitting on the side of the bed and carefully removing the condom. He glanced over to see Rebecca watching him with slightly glazed over eyes from a combination of alcohol, sex and his feeding and he knew that she wouldn't be awake for long. He leaned over the bed and gave her a slow kiss taking his time before pulling back. She curled up as he moved towards the bathroom to clean up.

When he moved back to the bedroom, Rebecca was asleep sprawled out across the bed. He gently moved the blanket over her and ran a hand over her hair. He was sure that he would be seeing her again as he pulled his clothes back on.

He moved to the door when he heard a soft knock and opened it to see Blake on the other side, leaning his shoulder into the door jam. The man glanced over to the bed before turning his green eyes on him. Nothing in his expression.

"Finished?" Blake asked quietly.

Dracka gave him a sly smile and Blake raised an eyebrow. Dracka could see the glazed look in the other man's eyes from the alcohol he'd consumed. They moved into the hall and Dracka closed the door behind him. The two men fell into step with each other and Dracka glanced over at Blake.

"What did you show the Minister?" Dracka asked.

Blake stopped in the hallway and leaned back against the wall, Dracka wasn't sure if it was because Blake needed the support or not.

"He would have been tortured and killed by the Dark Lord," Blake said with a slight slur to his words. "I showed him what could have happened. With the threat of both Simpson and the Dark Lord. We needed him on board."

Dracka stepped closer to the man and took in his scent and the smell of alcohol on him as Blake looked up at him. He reached forward and cupped the man's face and Blake tensed.

"I believe you did that," Dracka replied with a leer.

Blake reached up and grabbed his wrist, then in one movement Dracka found himself pushed face first into the wall that Blake had been resting against. He froze as Blake held his arm up behind his back and he could smell the man's scent around him. Blake growled low in his throat and Dracka tilted his head to the side.

The man held him in that position for a couple of seconds more before releasing him and stepping back. Dracka turned back to him warily but Blake just gave him a slight smile before reaching down and picking up the cane he'd dropped.

"There's too much of a vampire in you," Dracka remarked and Blake barked a laugh.

"Oh, god." Blake said as he paled. "Don't make me laugh. I think I might be sick."

Dracka gave him a smile and Blake shared a look with him before looking at his watch.

"Do you think we could find a coffee shop open at two in the morning?" Blake asked. "I don't want to throw up when we have to apparate back to the school."

Dracka barked a laugh as he moved closer to the other man and they moved off down the hallway together.

xXx

Severus dropped the thick potion's text book right next to the vampire's head, that was resting on the Head Table. Dracka groaned loudly and grabbed his skull as Minerva thinned her lips while Albus looked over in amusement. Severus then dropped the next book he held, with a loud bang and Dracka swore at him.

Severus smirked and held up the third book.

"You drop that one, Severus." Dracka hissed, his eyes flashing. "And I'll snap."

"I'm just placing the books I need for my morning lesson on the table," Severus remarked with a smirk. "Hardly my fault that you are hungover from taking my partner out until the early hours of the morning."

Severus then dropped the last book in his hand onto the table and Dracka flinched at the loud sound. Cursing his vampire hearing as his head pounded.

"I hope you gave Blake the same treatment," Dracka groaned as he rubbed his temples. He knew the pain would be gone by lunch time, due to his healing, but that didn't help him now.

"The Department called him early this morning," Severus replied as he took a seat next to the vampire. "I'm sure he only got a couple of hours of sleep after your adventures last night."

"You two are worse than teenagers," Minerva snapped and Dracka winched again.

"Feeling like one too. A hungover one," Dracka muttered. "Bloody, Blake Sun."

Severus snorted in amusement.

"God, that man can drink." Dracka groaned. "For a small man he can put it away and still be standing. I still reckon it was only his cane keeping him up."

Severus snorted as Minerva's lips tightened even more as she looked at him in disapproval.

"Speak of the devil," Albus muttered.

They all looked up as Blake walked into the hall. Dracka looked him over but he didn't seem to be showing the effects of the drinking that he'd done the night before.

"Don't tell me that you gave him a potion," Dracka accused Severus.

"Not me," Severus replied with a smirk. "I don't want to encourage him into a repeat performance."

"Like Blake needs encouragement to act like a child." Minerva stated as they watched him work his way through the students before moving to the Head Table.

"Morning, everyone." Blake chirped with a grin.

Dracka groaned and grabbed his head as Blake moved around the table and picked up one of the books.

"Hey, this one is mine." Blake said as he looked over the titles.

"They were the thickest ones I could find," Severus replied with a smirk and they shared a look.

"Ah," Blake said with a smirk then let the book fall with a loud bang and Dracka groaned before swearing at the two men.

"You two are as bad as each other," Dracka moaned.

"Think of it as building up your resistance to snapping," Blake said. "See, your demon isn't even showing."

"It's betrayed me," Dracka muttered. "It's left me to deal with you two alone, the bastard."

Blake barked a laugh and Dracka let his head rest on the table as he cursed them, not looking forward to his first class.

"Keep up that language Mr Dracka," Minerva said sternly. "And you'll lose points."

"Bloody Blake Sun," Dracka muttered and Minerva huffed.

"I agree," Blake said with a smirk. "Very bad, Blake Sun. But think of it this way Dracka, you didn't have Dogwood yelling at you earlier."

Dracka snickered.

"I'm thinking a Friday night might be a better night next time," Blake stated mildly as he took a seat and grabbed the whole pot of coffee and pulled it closer. "Dylan doesn't work Saturdays."

Dracka and Severus groaned as Blake gave them a grin.


	17. Chapter Thirty three

Blake was having nightmares and it was concerning Severus. The man normally slept soundlessly but would wake at the slightest noise much like Severus himself but lately he'd been sleeping less and was restless when he did. Severus had found himself waking to find Blake sitting on the edge of the bed, working with his sword in the other room or just holding him as he shook.

He'd left sleeping potions and even a dreamless sleep on the man’s bedside table but Blake hadn’t taken them. Severus had just left them there, just in case he changed his mind. When he asked the man about the nightmares he would say he couldn’t remember or say it was about the torture that he'd gone through but Severus wasn’t so sure. His nightmares did flare up every now and again but not like this.

It was for that reason that Severus found himself in Blake’s office, not that the man used it often. Preferring to use his dining table or work in his classroom but he did use it sometimes. Severus looked around the space, Blake kept his potion ingredients in a cabinet to his right and shelves of books to his left. This room was the only room that he kept locked but Severus and Dracka were keyed to the door as well as the Headmaster. He moved to the desk and took a seat, looking over the files on the table.

Mostly student files but there were a couple on Simpson and his movements and the murders. Blake’s neat writing covering the reports. Severus flicked through them finding nothing out of the ordinary until he got to the file of the murdered village and the photos. He paused as he looked at the woman on the stone table and his stomach rolled at the image as it brought up memories of his time with Voldemort and what that man was capable of.

“Can I help you with something, Severus?”

Severus’s head shot up to look at Blake. He didn’t even hear the man come into the room and yet there he stood, leaning back against the door with his arms crossed and his cane hanging from his arm. The man looked at him with unreadable eyes as they looked him over.

Blake sighed and moved towards Severus. He hung his cane off the edge of the table as he limped slightly towards Severus and looked down at the file in his hands frowning. He leaned back on the table edge beside Severus and looked down at him.

“What are you looking for?” Blake asked softly.

“Your nightmares,” Severus whispered.

“You think they are in those files?”

“Are they?”

Blake sighed and Severus could see how tired the man was.

“No,” Blake said after a couple of minutes. “No, they are not.”

Severus laid his hands on the other man’s thighs making Blake look down at him. Tried green eyes locked onto his and suddenly the man’s barriers around his mind were gone. Severus sucked in a breath as his eyes widened.

“Blake?” Severus questioned softly.

Blake gave him a soft smile but didn’t bring his walls back up. Severus stood up and cupped the man’s face.  He could faintly hear the man’s surface thoughts like whispers in his ears with no distinct words. He could easily push into the man’s mind but he held back.

“If you're not going to look,” Blake said softly, then gave him a lopsided grin. “I think a pen is sticking into my bum.”

Severus barked a laugh and pulled the man forward by the hips and looked behind him before clearing off a part of the desk and placing Blake onto the surface. Blake grinned at him as Severus gave him a soft kiss and pulled back. He looked down at the man and smiled.

“Well?” Blake asked. “Mind full of hundreds of years of history here.”

“With many holes,” Severus muttered. “And forgotten things.”

Blake barked a laugh then looked back at Severus with a soft smile.

“Show me one of the nightmares?” Severus whispered.

Severus looked into Blake’s eyes.

_Then suddenly he was falling and there was screaming and pain. He could feel a burning on his back and blood on his hands as he screamed. His veins full of fire and ice, he was so cold and hot at the same time and it made his head swim and all he could see was a dark mist. He felt dark power at his fingertips and running over his back._

_“You will tell me, Mr Potter.” A voice said beside him and he rolled his eyes slightly._

_A man in a suit was crouched beside him, brown hair hanging slightly in front of his cold brown eyes as he looked down at him. A dark mist was coating the man’s skin and Severus squinted his eyes in confusion. A lot of the man's features obscured by the dark mists covering his eyesight. Severus shook his head slightly but the mists remained._

_“Come now, Mr Potter.” The man said with a smirk._

_The man looked up and suddenly hands were grabbing his arms and shoulders and pain burst through his body. Dark mists swirling around him as he was dragged through the hallways. Fire ran up and down his back as he shook in pain. They reached a large room with chains hanging from the ceiling._

_He felt the men pull first one hand then the other up and lock his wrists into place with the handcuffs. He tried to get his feet under him but he just couldn’t hold his own weight as the man in the suit moved into his line of sight, those cold eyes locked onto him._

_“Shall we start again, Mr Potter?”_

_Severus screamed as the lashes fell on his back tearing it open._

Severus came back to himself panting, his eyes wide with his hands on either side of Blake as his stomach rolled and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be sick or not. Blake didn’t look much better.

“Oh, god.” Severus whispered.

He laid his head on the man’s shoulder as Blake wrapped his arms around him, his legs on either side of his body as Severus leaned into him.

“They are memories?” Severus whispered.

“Yes,” Blake replied. “Are you okay?”

Severus huffed a mirthless laugh and pulled back to look into Blake’s eyes. He cupped the man’s cheeks, feeling the man’s soft hair under his fingertips. Blake closed his eyes as Severus ran his hands through the man’s short hair. He could feel the man relaxing under his touch.

“Come on,” Severus said softly.

Blake frowned but followed Severus back to his rooms. Severus moved into the bedroom and slipped the man’s jacket off his shoulders.

“Severus?” Blake asked softly.

“Take off your shirt.” Severus replied, as he stripped down to his pants.

Blake frowned but complied.  He reached for his belt when Severus placed a hand on his.

“On the bed,” Severus gently ordered. “On your stomach.”

Blake hesitated for a second, his eyes unsure. Severus just waved him to the bed.

“Severus?” Blake whispered. “What do you have planned?”

Severus grabbed the other man’s hips, leaned down and kissed him before stepping him back towards the bed. Blake was tense under his hands and he lightly rubbed his thumbs over the man’s bare skin. He walked him back until the man’s legs hit the bed then released him. Blake’s eyes were wide as he looked up at Severus and he felt his heart beat that little bit quicker as he gave the man a soft smile.

Blake returned the smile before sitting on the bed. He turned and crawled up the bed before sprawling out on his stomach. Severus could see the tension in the man’s back and was a little unsure why. Severus moved onto the bed and saddled the man’s waist. He noticed that Blake’s hands were curled into fists above his head and that his head was slightly turned to the side as he watched him.

Severus reached over to his bedside table and pulled out a vial of lube. He poured a little into his hands and warmed it up before placing his hands on Blake’s tense back. The muscles were as tight as ropes under his hands, the scaring plain to see and his gut clenched at the sight, knowing how it had felt as those scars were made. The phantom feeling of lines of fire on his own back.

He gently ran his hands up the man’s back to his shoulders and worked on the tight muscles there. Carefully working out the knots he found as his hands worked down his back and then back up as Blake’s hands slowly relaxed out of the tight fists they were curled into. He took his time to work every muscle as the man slowly relaxed under him. He leaned forward and kissed the man’s left shoulder.

“Better?” Severus purred in the man’s ear.

Blake gave a sharp nod but stayed silent as Severus sat back up.

“Lift your hips?” Severus said softly.

Blake tensed slightly but did as he asked and Severus quickly loosened the man’s belt and slipped his pants down. Slipping each of his shoes off until he lay naked under him. Severus settled back, saddling the man’s waist and worked the muscles in his back again until Blake relaxed under him.

He poured more lube on his hands and slid his hands down Blake’s sides then over his hips as he moved further down the bed. Working the muscles in the man’s thigh, Blake groaned when he worked on the tight muscles around his right leg and Severus took great care as he kneaded his fingers into the muscles. Still feeling the damage under the skin where he'd cut back and rebuilt the muscles. His actions giving Blake more movement and less pain and yet still not enough.

Blake panted but didn’t say anything and Severus could feel his cock hardening at the sounds but he ignored it. He moved down the man’s legs before moving back up again. Working his fingers into the tight muscles of the man’s hips especially his right hip. Before working up his back to his shoulders.

The man had finally relaxed, his breathing deepening. Severus stepped off the bed to strip down as Blake watched him with slitted green eyes. Blake went to move his legs as Severus moved back to the bed but he stopped him and saddled his waist.

“Severus?” Blake whispered.

“Sh,” Severus replied, placing a hand on the man’s back.

Blake was tense again and Severus sighed. He poured more lube on his hands and worked on the muscles until the man was boneless under him and had closed his eyes for the first time. He worked on the man’s neck before moving back to his shoulders, gently easing off, so that his hands were just running over his skin softly.

Severus could feel the moment that the man fell asleep under him and laid his hands on the scaring, tracing his fingers along the overlapping lines. He'd felt those lashes on his back, the lines of fire as the whip hit again and again without mercy or pause. He'd felt the echo of the pain that Blake had felt as his back was torn open and he shivered slightly. He couldn't imagine having to endure that for days and weeks on end and he wasn't sure if that was the only kind of torture that Blake had endured while he'd been captured.

Blake moved under him slightly and Severus moved to lie beside him instead. Blake moved onto his side in his sleep, his hands near his head. Severus frowned and looked at the man’s wrists, only just now noticing the very faint line around each one. He leaned over to have a closer look, running his fingers over the man’s wrist and could feel the slight line of scaring under his fingertips. If he hadn’t been looking for it, he probably wouldn’t have seen them, and it sent a chill down his spine that he'd missed something like that for so long.

Severus lay back down on the bed and scooped up his wand from the side table and a blanket fell over the two, Blake jolted slightly at the use of magic but didn’t wake. Severus rolled towards the man and tangled his legs with the other man as he placed his arm around his waist just listening to him breathing softly. Sleep didn't come easy for Severus that night but Blake slept all the way through.

xXx

Severus woke to the feeling of someone running a hand down his side and a mouth on his throat and he rolled slightly onto his back and peered up at Blake above him. The man grinned and slipped his hand lower taking his limp cock in his hand and worked on his balls as Severus rolled onto his back completely. The man had been on the phone when he'd gone to bed, his soft voice in the next room lulling him to sleep but going off the clock on his bedside table that had been a long time ago.

Blake saddled him before gently placing a knee between Severus’s legs and nudging them apart as he kissed him deeply, his hands moving on Severus as he hardened. The man knew just the right way to get him hard and keep him that way as Severus grabbed the man’s hips as his head fell back against the pillows with a soft groan. Blake chuckled into his neck making a shiver run down his spine.

Severus released the man as he moved down his body and bunched his hands in the pillow as Blake took him in his mouth. When the man pushed a finger into him he tensed slightly until Blake licked up the underside of his cock and he relaxed again and moved his legs further apart. Blake worked to widen him quickly as Severus panted.

“Close,” Severus purred and the man pulled back.

Severus looked up at him as he moved back above him with a small grin as he settled between his legs, his green eyes so dilated they almost looked black. Severus brought his legs up on either side of the man and tilted his hips slightly.

Blake grinned and took him in a deep kiss as he pushed forward. Severus tensed slightly and Blake stopped, running a hand up and down his side, until he relaxed again. Blake had control that Severus had never come across before in a lover as he just waited, slightly panting, with his eyes wide.

Severus wrapped his legs around the man’s waist and pulled him close making him swear as he pulled him in. Severus chuckled holding him in place with his legs. Blake panted with his hands on either side of Severus’s shoulders, his eyes dark.

Then he was pulling back slightly, rocking forward in slow thrusts as Severus got used to the feeling. Their magic taking notice as Blake shivered as he looked down at him as he moved and Severus groaned as he hit his prostate and Blake gave him a grin and hit it again. Severus could feel the tingle down his spine at the feeling as he grabbed the man's ass in one hand.

“Faster,” Severus hissed.

Blake grinned at him and complied with Severus meeting him for every thrust until Severus tipped over the edge with their magic brushing against his skin. Blake pulled back slightly as Severus came down from his high, his slightly glowing green eyes locked on him before with a couple more thrusts he came as he held himself above Severus as he panted.

Blake pulled back and moved to the side as he curled up into Severus's side and with a flick of his wrist cast the cleaning charm and Severus's eyes widened as he watched the magic swirling as the charm worked. He glanced around taking in the sight of the magic as it settled around them. Blake watched him in amusement as he curled into his side.

He reached out a hand and touched the magic he could see, it twirled around his fingers and brushed against his arm. Swirling through his fingers and felt slightly cool to his touch. He'd felt the magic before but with the boost of Blake's magic he could see it clearly around him.

“Grab it,” Blake muttered into his chest.

Severus closed his hand on the magic and could feel something, no someone, at the other end. He focused on the magic more and suddenly he was surrounded by it, it felt familiar as it ran over his senses and he could feel a connection in the back of his mind.

Then he realised the connection was with Blake, a hint of amusement came down the link as he looked around in amazement, the room was covered in mists, some dark and others light as he took on more of what Blake saw. He knew instinctively that if he focused on a magical object he could see the spells worked into it as he lay there.

Blake nudged him slightly and he turned his eyes on him. His green eyes stood out as the man grinned at him.

“Follow the connection,” Blake whispered, he wasn’t sure if the man said it out loud or in his mind.

He closed his eyes and grabbed the connection he felt, it slipped from him a few times before Blake’s presence pushed him slightly and he grabbed a hold of it.  He followed it back to the source feeling Blake around him. Until he stood looking at the man’s core, a twirling ball of magic before him. It was like looking at oil on water as the power shimmered every colour of the rainbow, with dark and light mists swirling together around and through it.

Blake nudged him and Severus reached out and touched one of the strands of light magic. He could feel life in that strand, of things he could create and he quickly let go of it. He hesitated to touch the dark strand and this time Blake didn’t nudge him but he could feel the man waiting.

He reached out hesitantly and touched the dark strand and felt a cool breeze run down his back. It felt familiar, like an ex-lover, as it danced down his spine. He’d held this power before, he realised with shock and it came easily into his hand unlike the light power that seemed to turn away from him.

Blake gave him a hard nudge and Severus let go of the power with a gasp. Blake wrapped around him and was pulling him back to the surface of the connection and then Severus could only feel himself and Blake was just a thin connection at the edge of his mind. Blake nudged him but it was more an echo and Severus realised that he was in his own mind. Which just felt surreal to him.

Blake gave him another push and Severus could tell the man was frustrated at something, like he was being held back. Severus started and lowered the barriers around his mind in understanding. Blake’s presence grew stronger and he was pushing him forward until Severus was looking at his own core of magic, the rainbows paler than Blake’s but still there as it moved around him and the dark mists only small strands as they drifted around lazily.

He reached out and the power flowed to him easily as he cupped the dark power, he could feel Blake stepping back. The man was unsure and slightly nervous and Severus didn’t understand why.

“Shit!”

Severus startled at the sudden noise and the connection broke around him. Blake was out of bed with a slight burn mark on his chest.

“Sorry,” Blake said quickly. “Should have warned you.”

Severus quickly slid out of bed in concern, the burn mark was only small but was already puffing up.

“Did I do that?” Severus asked.

“Um,” Blake said, as he reached into the drawer of the bedside table. “Yeah, I forgot to warn you, don't worry I don't think it was enough for the Headmaster to notice.”

He pulled out a jar of healing balm which Severus took from his hand and worked the balm into the small burn. Severus chuckled suddenly, startling the other man.

“What?” Blake asked.

“Does sex always come with lessons with you?” Severus purred.

Blake grinned back and wrapped his arms around the taller man.

“Hey,” Blake smirked. “At least I make my lessons fun, unlike some teachers I know.”

Severus laughed as he tumbled the man back onto the bed.

xXx

“We've had no luck in finding him,” Dracka said softly as he looked at the files on the table.

“I’m not surprised,” Harry replied. “He would have gone to ground quickly after the ritual. His dark power will make it harder for him to hide like before but he has shown he is very good at hiding.”

Harry sighed as they looked over the reports.

“We have the numbers of his supporters from when we raided his compound,” Harry remarked. “Not to mention a long list of safe houses and other places and agreements he has. One down side to those files is my own stupidity could have compromised them.”

“Couldn’t have been helped, Blake.” Dracka told the man.

“Over confidence is the failing of many leaders,” Harry said softly and moved a couple of the files around. “We have to be careful now that he doesn’t use the information we gathered from his office against us. Due to us taking the horcrux he will know that we were in his office.

“Another thing that couldn’t be helped,” Dracka pointed.

“Yes, yes.” Harry snapped. “I’m well aware of that.”

Harry was frustrated and he sighed.

“Sorry,” Harry said softly. “How is the Headmaster going with the Dark Lord?”

Dracka grinned.

“The man has been quiet so far,” Dracka replied. “But is gathering support again.”

“So,” Harry said looking at the other man. “You think he won’t make any great moves until he tries to takes the school?”

“It looks that way,” Dracka replied then frowned. “Why is he so focused on something that really has no value?”

“I think it’s a pride thing,” Harry replied as he sat back in his seat. “A half-blood wanting to be recognised as a pure blood due to his connection to Salazar Slytherin. A man, I might add, that has been dead for over a thousand years.”

“Blood can be very important,” Dracka remarked as he flashed his fangs at Harry.

Harry looked away.

“Blake?” Dracka asked softly, since looking away was unlike him.

“Magic,” Harry said softly, as he looked at the table. “Is so much like blood. It has a different flavour but boils down to the same thing in the end.”

Harry looked up to see that he had shocked the vampire and gave him a grin, showing off his own teeth to the man and Dracka snorted.

“They are both something that someone would fight for,” Harry said to the other man. “And die for and you Rolf Dracka can take both away from someone.”

Dracka shivered and Harry gave him a lopsided grin.

“You would make a good vampire,” Dracka whispered.

Harry barked a laugh and gave the vampire a wink.

“I’ve been told that before,” Harry said with a smirk. “Now, have you been able to find out if we have gotten all the horcruxes?”

Dracka eyed off him off for a few minutes before letting the conversation change.

“Just the snake and Harry Potter,” Dracka replied.

Harry stilled.

“Harry Potter,” Harry whispered.

“We have a plan in place, Blake.” Dracka said softly and grabbed his hand.

Harry nodded stiffly, he was too close. This was something that he would have to have faith in the other two men for. Since his own feelings for his son would get in the way. It tore at him but he knew he had no other choice in the matter. He ran a hand over his head, feeling the tension in his shoulders.

“Blake,” Dracka said softly.

Harry looked up at him, locking eyes with a vampire.

“We'll look after him,” Dracka said softly. “You have to trust us. You know what needs to happen.”

Harry’s eyes bore into the vampire’s but Dracka did not look away or flinch.

“I’m guessing,” Dracka said softly. “That my life would be forfeit if the boy dies.”

Harry looked away.

“I don’t know what I would do,” Harry admitted softly. “I can’t blame you if your plan goes wrong, unless you haven’t thought of everything.”

“I could just hide behind Severus,” Dracka smirked. “And hope for the best.”

Harry snorted and looked back at the vampire steadily.

“I suppose an eye for an eye,” Harry said softly.

Dracka flinched back at those words.

“Jesus, Blake!” Dracka cursed. “My brother was a clean kill.”

Harry looked away but his eyes snapped back when Dracka growled at him and his eyes locked on the vampire’s red ones.

“It still hurts,” Dracka said softly as his eyes bleed back to black. “But, no one could say it wasn’t a clean kill. I was there, I saw him jump on you after killing your team. If you think I would take your son away because of that!”

Harry flinched back as Dracka glared at him. The vampire's chair crashed to the floor as he stood suddenly as anger flooded through him. The fight went out of Dracka as he looked down at Harry and he knelt down in front of the seated man.

“He is your own blood,” Dracka whispered. “Your own magic and you have raised him from a child. Something you didn't have to do.”

“And I am trusting him to you and Severus,” Harry said softly. “All I want to do is protect him. I wasn’t there for him as much as I should have been. I couldn’t remember as much as I should have and he was hurt by that. Now, I have to trust him to you...Your own brother's blood is on my hands, Dracka.”

Harry held his hands out and Dracka took them in his own, his skin slightly cooler than his own.

“And you trust his life to a man you love,” Dracka said softly. “A man who you trust completely.”

Harry nodded, unable to find the words he needed.

“Trust us,” Dracka said softly as he held his hands.

Harry looked at their joined hands and nodded.

“Don’t make me have to bury another child,” Harry said softly into the silence.

“We'll do everything we can,” Dracka replied.

It was a soldier’s promise, something Harry knew well. There would be deaths, he just hopped that they weren’t friends, family or lovers.

xXx

"So," Harry started as he looked over at Severus getting dressed for breakfast from his place in their bed. "The goblins want me to see if Bill Weasley is ready for the title of Master Curse Breaker."

Severus looked over at him as he tightened his belt.

"What does that entail exactly?" Severus asked.

"Well," Harry replied. "That depends on the person and their level of skill or power or both really."

"Yes," Severus drawled. "That cleared that up nicely."

Harry barked a laugh as he pulled himself out of the bed and moved over to the other man and was pleased to see the way Severus's eyes roamed over him before he snagged up his dress shirt.

"It's not like when you did your apprenticeship," Harry replied as he pulled out a pair of jeans. "Some curse breakers don't even make it to the master level. That's why we are in such demand. The goblins want Bill to get the title so they don't have to keep calling me."

"And sending you all over the world," Severus muttered.

Harry gave the man an amused glance as he finished dressing.

"You knew that before we started a relationship, Severus." Harry replied mildly. "You know I always come back."

"In roughly the same shape," Severus remarked and Harry let that slide as they finished dressing.

The two men moved into the hallway to the sound of yelling. Severus and Harry picked up their speed to see two young students having a fist fight in the hallway before the Great Hall. Severus pulled his wand but Harry grabbed his wrist as Dracka appeared and grabbed the uniform of one of the boys and hauled him off the other one with a growl in his throat.

The other boy jumped to his feet, his face red before he saw the vampire and paled as he backed away. Dracka dropped the boy he held and the student crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Harry let Severus go and the man stalked forward.

"And what, pray tell, would this be about?" Severus asked silkily as Dracka stood between the two students, his eyes red and his fangs barred.

"He stole something from Mr Sun's desk," The third year Slytherin named, Sam Carlson, shouted.

Severus glanced over at Harry and he just shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what the boy was talking about. The child wasn't even one of his students.

"I did not!" The second year Gryffindor, Callum Genger, yelled back.

Genger stepped forward towards the other boy and Dracka growled, blocking him and the boy paled. Professor McGonagall walked out of the Great Hall and paused as she looked over the scene. She stood up straighter and pushed her glasses up her nose with one finger as she looked over everyone in the hallway as students lined the walls and the doors to the Great Hall whispering.

"Enough," Severus hissed and silence descended.

Harry shared a look with Dracka, that one word from Severus could silence a hallway where a vampire couldn't. Harry limped towards Severus to stand at his shoulder as he looked between the two students.

"What is it, that you believe, that Mr Genger stole from my desk?" Harry asked into the silence.

"That snake of yours," Sam replied as he glared over at Callum.

"What snake?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"I didn't steal anything!" Callum defended.

"Hand it here," Severus hissed as held his hand out.

Callum stiffened and his eyes darted around, making Harry frown as he stepped in front of Severus.

"Show me," Harry said gently as he leaned into his cane.

Callum slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out something silver and held it out in his palm and Harry paled as he looked at it. Dracka growled and moved closer but Harry held up his hand.

"He did not take that from me," Harry said softly.

Callum Genger closed his hand over the silver snake and slipped it back into his pocket. Harry turned to the other boy.

"Did you see Mr Genger take it?" Harry asked, steel in his voice.

"No, sir." Sam said softly and shifted slightly. "But it is yours and you had it on your desk."

"And yet, Mr Sun has stated he did not take it," Severus added silkily. "Follow me Mr Carlson and we will have a little chat about this matter."

Sam Carlson paled and looked down at his feet.

"Yes, sir." Sam said softly.

Severus turned on his heels and stalked off with Sam following behind him, in no doubt that the child would follow him.

"Mr Genger please follow me," Minerva said softly and Callum hung his head as he followed after his Head of House.

Dracka looked around the hallway, his eyes still red and he flashed his fangs at the children which had them moving. Harry looked over at the man in amusement.

"Remind you of fledglings?" Harry asked.

"If they were fledglings," Dracka replied mildly. "I would have waited a little while before stepping in. It's not a good fight until there's blood on the floor."

Harry barked a laugh then an idea came to mind and Dracka pulled back from him.

"Have you had a class on vampires, yet?" Harry asked mildly and Dracka groaned.

"One that I wish not to repeat," Dracka replied. "Idiots the lot of them."

"I wonder if the Headmaster would allow a demonstration," Harry remarked with a smirk.

Dracka groaned before giving him a once over.

"What did the boy have?" Dracka asked.

"The token I gave the crows," Harry said softly and watched the blood drain from Dracka's face as he swore in French. "I wonder why they give him that."

"You know what he will become," Dracka said softly and Harry sighed as he ran a hand over his head.

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I would be blind not to see what that boy will become."

"What are you going to do about it?" Dracka asked in interest as he moved closer.

"I already offered him to take my classes," Harry replied with a sigh. "He hasn't given me an answer yet."

Both men looked over when Albus Dumbledore made his way down the hallway towards the Great Hall, the man paused when he saw them and Harry gave the man a big grin.

"Albus," Harry greeted cheerfully.

Albus groaned at the look on Harry's face.

"Don't tell me that the Department of Mysteries have sent you another box," Albus said softly as he moved towards the other two men.

"Not that I am aware of," Harry replied as his smile widened. "I have something better in mind."

xXx

"Mr Sun?" A soft voice said quietly from his office door and Harry looked up to see Callum Genger standing there nervously.

"Come in, Mr Genger." Harry said with a smile as he looked up from the file before him. "How can I help you?"

Callum came into the room, leaving the door open and stood in front of his desk. The boy looked around before pulling the silver snake out of his pocket and placing it on his desk. Harry could see the boy did it reluctantly as he held his hands nervously in front of him.

"Professor McGonagall said I should give this back to you," Callum said softly.

Harry looked the boy over, he was small for his age and normally would just disappear amongst the students. There was nothing to make him stand out and from what his teachers had told Harry his work was very much the same. Passing but didn't show any real talent in any one subject.

"It is yours, Mr Genger." Harry said softly. "They gave it to you for a reason."

The boy started and looked around even more nervous as he glanced behind him at the open door. Almost to reassure himself that he wasn't trapped in the room.

"Who, sir?" Callum asked in a small voice.

Harry leaned forward and touched the silver and it slowly morphed under his fingers into the shape of the crow with beady black eyes. Callum gasped as he looked at the silver figurine and Harry pulled back in his seat. The boy picked it up and looked it over in fascination.

"How did you do that?" Callum asked softly.

"If you take my classes next year," Harry replied softly. "I can show you."

Callum looked down at the little silver crow before looking back up at Harry. He tucked a piece of loose brown hair behind his ear as his blue eyes looked Harry over.

"Do you need my parents' permission?" Callum asked softly.

"No," Harry answered with a frown. "But they will be informed that you would be taking extra classes."

Callum nodded and his eyes strayed back to the silver crow in his hand.

"Yes, thank you." Callum said softly before looking up at Harry with a slight glint in his eyes.

"Any other questions?" Harry asked.

Callum slipped the crow away into his pocket and looked over at Harry, his eyes catching on the thin scars on his arms.

"No, sir." Callum replied.

"Well off you go," Harry said with a smile. "We can work out class times when you start next year."

Callum nodded and moved out of the room with Harry looking at the open doorway with a frown between his brows. The crows had taken an interest in the boy with piped Harry's interest. He tapped the table with his pen a couple of times before going back to his work.

xXx

Severus frowned when he moved out into the hallway to see students milling around and he looked over the mostly Slytherin students with slight puzzlement. It was close to dinner time and most of the students were normally seated by now. The Slytherins noticed him and stepped to the side as he moved down the corridor and towards the Great Hall.

He was surprised to see the doors closed and more students of all houses waiting to go in. Minerva stood to the side of the doors and gave him a frown as he moved towards her.

"Do you know what's going on?" Minerva asked as she glanced around.

"How would I know?" Severus asked

"It was Mr Sun that closed and locked the doors," Minerva said sternly and Severus pulled back. "Ah, you can't leave now Severus."

A few students snickered around them as Severus gave the woman a smirk.

"There is always an escape route," Severus replied mildly.

"No there isn't," Dracka announced as he moved towards them with a big smile and a glint in his dark eyes.

Severus pulled himself up to his full height as he looked down his nose at the vampire which just made the man widen his smile, showing off his fangs.

"And why would you say that, Mr Dracka?" Minerva asked.

"Because," Dracka replied, drawing out the word. "Tonight, I am not the only vampire here."

The students around them went quiet before the hissing of whispers started up. They all looked over as the doors to the Great Hall opened and they glanced into the room. Severus frowned when he noticed that all the tables had been pushed to the sides of the room with a large space in the middle.

"Welcome everyone," Albus said with a smile as he moved out of the Great Hall. "Tonight, is going to be a little different. You will not have to sit at your assigned tables, so please come in and take a seat anywhere you wish."

The students flowed into the hall whispering between each other as Albus looked around with a twinkle in his eyes.

"What is this Albus?" Minerva hissed at the older man.

"Mr Sun and Mr Dracka have decided to put on a class tonight," Albus said with a smile and Severus groaned.

"Do I need to get the first aid kit?" Severus asked.

"No need," Sergeant Miller said as he moved into the hall with his team at his back. "I brought a medic."

Severus groaned again and looked around.

"Do I even want to know where Blake is?" Severus asked.

Dracka gave him a leer before moving off into the Hall. Miller just patted his shoulder as he moved passed with his team at his back. Severus looked back to Albus but the man was no help as he just smiled at him, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. Before linking his arm with Minerva and moving into the hall. Severus looked around at the empty hallway before with a sigh moved into the Great Hall.

Severus looked around at all the tables pushed to the side of the room and the students scattered around. There were more tables than students as his eye caught on Miller and his team, looking casual in jeans and shirts, instead of uniforms. He frowned when he noticed Bill Weasley, Remus lupin and Sirius Black as well as a few other Order members and some other people he didn't know and which he assumed were from the Auror and Department of Mysteries.

In the middle of the hall there was a large black circle and he followed it around until he spotted Blake sitting next to Ry with a guitar in his hands and his frown deepened. He moved up to the Head Table but his eyes watched Blake and Ry talking quietly with Ry's friends around him. There was a skin drum on the ground beside Ry as Severus took a seat next to Dracka.

"Just a minute of your time before dinner is served." Albus called out, his voice carrying around the hall. "Mr Sun and Professor Dracka have decided to put on a lesson for you tonight. You would have noticed the black circle on the ground, if all students could stay out of that circle unless they are bid to enter it."

Dracka got to his feet and the noise in the hall dropped.

"Mr Sun and myself thought it would be a good idea to give you a taste of what it's like in a Coven," Dracka said softly, his slight French accent a little stronger than normal as he looked around.

Whispers started up around the hall and more than a few glances were being thrown in Miller and the adults' direction and Severus frowned.

"Blake?" Dracka asked, looking over at the man.

Blake picked up the guitar and picked out a few notes before moving into a song as Ry picked up the drum and picked up the beat. Severus watched the two and he was sure that they had done this more than a few times and was surprised that he had never heard them play. He knew Blake had a guitar, of course, but he'd never seen the man pick it up.

Food appeared on the table as a man and a woman moved into the hall and the breath caught in Severus's throat. The two people moved as one as the woman's dress sparkled under the soft light and the music rolled over them. The man wore a suit and both weren't wearing shoes as they moved into the middle of the room. The woman smiled as she looked around the hall, her long black hair pulled back into a bun at the back of her head as the man glanced around in interest as the two fell into a stance and waited.

Blake changed the song slightly and then the two were moving. They hall went quiet as the two people danced, twisting and turning and moving as one. Not missing a step as they danced together and this wasn't what Severus was expecting. He glanced over at Dracka to see a soft smile on the man's face as he watched the two.

He looked back to see the woman twisting around the man before he threw her slightly into the air before catching her again as they twirled around. The beat of the drum drawing you in as the haunting sounds of the guitar as Blake plucked out each note as the two people danced perfectly together. The two came to an end of their dance and gave a bow as the hall erupted in clapping. The two people moved to the table where Miller was seated and took a seat as they piled up their plates as they smiled and spoke to the people around them.

Blake changed the song he was playing and Ry stopped the drum and Severus's eyes was drawn back to the door as a man walked in and he started as he recognised Liam as the man moved forward alone to stand in the middle of the hall and took a bow. Another man came in with a box and set it down to the side of the circle and opened it up. Severus looked Liam over, the vampire had the slim build of an athlete as he stood there, completely relaxed as he looked around.

"You'll like this one," Dracka muttered and gave him a wink.

Severus tensed at those words and looked back to see the man with the box, pull out a coloured ball and throw it to Liam. The man caught it easily and threw it up in the air with one hand as the man threw another ball. Very soon Liam had at least ten balls in the air as he juggled them with skill. Gasping from the students had Severus smirking as the man tossed a couple of balls back to the other man and they moved the small balls back and forth between them until the other man held all the balls again and would toss one in the box ever now and again as he juggled them until there were none left. He moved to the side and closed the box before sitting down on the lid.

Liam gave a grin before he held his arms up and Blake strummed away on his guitar as Ry picked up a beat with his drum. Then Liam was tipping over backwards before flicking his feet over his head as he tumbled back in a perfect flip. Severus breath caught as the man tumbled and twirled across the floor and he was amazed at the skill as the man moved so easily. Flipping and rolling as the students gapped.

"Used to work in the circus," Dracka said softly.

"Before or after he was turned?" Severus asked and Minerva looked over in interest.

"Before and after," Dracka replied. "About all we know about him."

Their attention was drawn back as Liam gave a bit of a run and a jump before flipping across the floor and into a twist at the end and landing perfectly on his feet and gave a bow. The students clapped loudly as Liam gave another big bow before moving over to the man and woman from before. The man flashed his fangs at the young man and Liam give a big grin as he ducked his head.

Dracka snorted at them and gave Severus a grin which turned into a leer.

"He's not just good at Gymnastics," Dracka purred with a wink. "He has many skills."

"Mr Dracka!" Minerva admonished.

Dracka just sat back in his seat and gave the woman a leer and Minerva blushed.

"I'm a vampire, my dear." Dracka said with a smirk. "Blood isn't the only thing we hunt for."

Minerva blushed even deeper as Severus snorted.

Severus looked over when Blake stopped playing and a young girl walked in, she was one of his snakes and he frowned as the girl moved into the middle of the circle with a case and placed it on the ground before taking out a silver flute. She stood up and placed the flute to her lips as she started playing. For a fourth year, the girl had real skill as she played and the students watched her as the music filled the Hall.

"Is this normal?" Minerva asked softly to Dracka.

"Every night," Dracka replied. "Keeps ties strong in a Coven. Helps settle disputes as well. When you live as long as us, you pick up talents along the way. Helps the children show off what they had learnt as well."

Severus started at those words and glanced over at the vampire and he could see a light in the man's eyes as he looked around the hall. He felt a little bad that he hadn't asked or wondered if Dracka missed his home while he was here.

The fourth year Slytherin finished up and another student moved forward with a violin and the haunting sound filled the hall. He glanced over to Blake to see the man talking quietly to Ry and the boy was blushing and he wondered why.

"Probably trying to get him to sing," Dracka said, looking over at the two. "I don't think he'll have much luck. I was trying to get him to spar."

"Blake didn't want to spar?" Severus asked with a frown.

"No," Dracka replied with a frown.

The noise in the hall dimmed as Blake and Ry got to their feet and moved into the circle and Ry placed his wand to the line and it flared up behind them. Severus's eyes looked over his lover as he limped without his cane as the two Potters moved into the middle of the circle. They both pulled their wands before Ry gave him father a big grin. They turned and walked a few paces away from each other as the whispers increased.

"Looks like he got a better offer," Severus drawled as he sat back in his seat.

Dracka flashed his fangs at the other man before focusing back on Ry and Blake. Blake gave his son a mocking bow and Ry followed suit before falling into stance. Blake just looked at his son mildly, standing calmly with his hand in his pocket and Severus frowned.

"He shouldn't give Blake time to think," Dracka muttered.

"He isn't," Minerva replied and pointed to the box that had been left to the side of the circle.

The lid on the box suddenly banged open and a large blue cat lunged out towards Blake. The man yelped and stumbled back a step as he brought up a shield as Ry moved quickly to the side and threw a spell at his father. Blake ducked quickly as he used the shield to push the cat to the side as he skipped to the side as Ry sent another spell hurling at him.

Blake called a lash of fire to his hand and twirled it around and Ry retreated with a shield in front of him. Severus could tell that the two Potters had done this many times before as Blake finally caged the large cat in a wire cage as both Ry and Blake eyed each other off. Ry grinned and pulled a glass sphere out of his pocket and Severus could hear Blake groan from his seat.

"Stop stealing things from my rooms," Blake snapped at the boy and Ry's grin widened.

A few students laughed before Blake pulled something from his pocket and threw little glass beads across the ground as Ry tossed the glass ball up into the air. Both Blake and Ry threw spells at each other and were moving as the glass balls morphed into little glass mice and they went scattering across the floor as the glass ball arched up then down. Blake yelped and ducked down to the floor as one of Ry's spells came close and Severus smirked. The boy knew his father's tricks well.

Then the glass ball smashed on the floor and dark mists rolled out as flashes of lights sparked in the dome of the protection circle.

"Oi!" Ry yelped from somewhere in the mists and Severus smirk widened.

"Which one is the biggest child?" Albus asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Blake," Severus and Dracka replied at the same time.

The coloured lights faded, leaving only the dark mists swirling around before they started to fad as well. Severus frowned when he could only see one shape to the side of the dome with his back to the protection ward and his wand out. Ry was nowhere to be seen as the mists cleared and whispering started up as Blake's eyes darted around before focusing on something and sending a spell that way. The spell just crashed into the protection circle flaring it briefly before a spell came out of nowhere and Blake brought up a shield.

"Ha, he's wearing his father's cloak," Severus muttered.

Another spell crashed into Blake's shield and the man held his wand in both hands as Ry poured on the magic. Blake moved to one knee and placed his hand flat on the ground and the spell cut off, Ry well aware that his father was up to something. Blake grinned as he stayed where he was until something silver flashed out and Blake rolled to the side as a small silver ball smashed into his shield dropping it.

Blake quickly pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket as he righted himself and went to jump to his feet but something tangled around his leg and he crashed to the floor with a yelp and Severus winched as Blake threw a spell over his shoulder as he pulled his silver knife and cut through the rope around his leg, just for another to wrap around his other leg.

"Okay," Blake called out. "Yield."

Ry pushed his cloak back, reappearing with a wide grin on his face as he looked over at his father and stopped the rope spell. Ry moved over and held his hand out to Blake and he took his son's hand as clapping started up around the hall. Severus's sharp eyes picked out Blake's heavier limp as the two Potters moved towards the protection circle and Ry dropped it as they moved back to their table. Blake sent a first year off to clear away any of the glass mice and other things from the floor. The small boy ran back to his table and the other students oh and ah over the small frozen animals.

"He's getting very skilled," Albus said softly. "He'll probably move through the ranks when he gets into the Auror program."

"With Blake training him," Minerva replied. "I'm not surprised."

"Hey," Dracka muttered. "He's not the only one training him."

Severus looked back to see Miller and one of his team, Robbie moving forward into the circle and falling into a stance. He looked around the hall to see all the students eating, watching or talking as they focused on Miller and Robbie as they started a bout of hand to hand. He noticed that the floor had a bit of give to it and looked over to see Blake putting his wand away and knew he was the one to cast the spell.

He watched the two men in interest as the noise of the hall washed over him. They hadn't done this before in the hall and as he looked around he found himself smiling slightly. He caught Blake's eye and the man gave him a grin as Miller and Robbie moved back to their seats and two more of Dracka's men moved forward for a bout.

Dracka suddenly yelled out something in French and the two men glanced over at him before one yelled something else back and Dracka barked a laugh before waving his hand. Dracka glanced over at Severus and the man saw a glint in his eye.

"What did you say?" Minerva asked.

"Something that would have lost me points," Dracka replied with a sly grin.

Severus snorted at the look on Minerva's face as he leaned back in his chair and took in the show. Once the men finished, a young girl of about ten walked out onto the floor and one of fighters knelt down as she came closer and clapped a hand to her shoulder before standing and stepping back.

"His daughter," Dracka said softly and Severus looked the pair over. "Lovely voice as you will hear."

Blake scooped up the guitar and started up a song that Severus didn't know and the small girl started singing in French. Severus was captivated as the young girl sang and he could see he wasn't alone. The girl finished up and took a bow and the hall erupted into cheers as the girl took the man's hand. The man looked down and gave his daughter a smile before they moved over to one of the tables.

"She's a werewolf," Dracka said softly and Severus started.

"And her father?" Minerva asked in interest.

"Human," Dracka replied. "They live in the village around my Coven."

"And the man he was fighting?" Severus questioned.

"My cousin," Dracka replied with a grin.

"Vampire?" Minerva asked.

"Born vampire," Dracka replied as he looked around the hall. "Elder vampire."

Severus looked over at the other man and Dracka flashed his fangs at the man. Blake got to his feet with the help of his cane and moved into the middle of the room and the noise started to hush.

"Entertained?" Blake asked as he looked around. "I hope this has given you an insight into a different culture. This is a every night entertainment in a Coven for both the people that live there as well as the village. Dracka?"

Dracka moved from the Head Table to stand next to Blake and glanced around.

"Much like the lessons here," Dracka said softly. "We perfect the skills we have and reinforced what binds us together. Regardless of Blood or magic."

The hall had gone quiet at the vampire's words.

"But never forget that a vampire is a dark creature," Blake said softly, his voice carrying. "But they are also people. Professor Dracka has been teaching here for almost a year and even if he has threatened to drain a few of you. You are all still alive."

"And have less fear of me than Professor Snape," Dracka remarked with a grin in Severus's direction

Blake bumped his shoulder into Dracka's shoulder and the man looked down at him with a grin as Severus glared at the two of them.

"Now," Blake called. "Who can pick out the vampires?"

Severus sat back in his seat as he looked out over the hall as the students called out and Blake and Dracka stood shoulder to shoulder as the lesson progressed. A lesson to the whole of the school, something Severus had never seen before.

xXx

Severus started from his sleep and glanced around, unsure what had woken him as he looked over to the clock on the bedside table. He ran his hand down Blake's side, feeling the slight indents of the scars down his back. He traced his fingers over the scars as he moved his hand down Blake's back to his hip. He let his hand rest there as he ran his thumb over the other man's skin. He could see Blake's short dark hair from the soft light in the room and moved his hand to run through it.

"Right there?" Blake asked softly.

"Yes," Severus replied and kissed the man's shoulder.

"Hmm," Blake replied as Severus kissed his shoulder again as he ran his hand down his side.

"You put on a good show last night," Severus purred as he grabbed the man's hip and kissed down his back.

"Getting my ass kicked by my son?" Blake asked in amusement as he moved to lay on his back. "The bugger knows all my tricks, we agreed that I could only use wizard magic and couldn't call my sword."

Severus chuckled as he ran his hand down Blake's chest and letting it rest on the man's stomach, his fingers idly tracing a scar there.

"He's improved since his first duel in his second year," Severus muttered. "No snakes this time."

"I would hope that he's improved since then," Blake said softly and they both fell into silence.

They both knew what the boy would have to face and they were both afraid of whether he would survive. About whether they would all survive and a chill went through Severus at the thought, knowing Blake was the only one that had any protection.

"Your connection with Ry is strong," Severus said softly.

"We are the same person," Blake said softly as he turned to him and let his hand rest on his side.

"No," Severus disagreed as he looked into Blake's eyes. "You were both born the same person but you are not the same person now."

Blake's eyes darted between his own and Severus gave him a soft smile before cupping his face and pulling him forward for a kiss. Taking his time to taste the man as his hands ran into his hair, feeling the soft strands under his palms. Severus pulled back and looked into Blake's eyes. So much like Lily Potter's and yet not. There was an age to the man's eyes as Blake gave him a smile and he felt a tightness in his chest at the look.

He ran thumb over the man's cheek as he looked at him and Blake frowned.

"Something wrong?" Blake asked.

"No," Severus replied softly. "Not at all."

Blake pushed back the covers before giving Severus a slight push and he moved onto his back as Blake saddled his waist before leaning forward and kissing him deeply as he ran a hand down his side. Blake pulled back and looked down at him as his hand rested on his hip and slightly curled around his bum.

"Love you," Blake said softly as he looked down at him.

"Are we getting sappy?" Severus asked in amusement.

"Only if you want to, love?" Blake replied with a sly grin.

Severus grabbed the man by the hips and rolled them as Blake gave a laugh. Severus attacked his neck as he grabbed his cock and gave it a pull and Blake moaned softly. Severus pulled back with a grin.

"Love you," Severus purred and was satisfied to see Blake shiver as his eyes darkened. "Even if you are a Potter."

"Ha," Blake barked with a grin. "I think you are getting used to that. You knew the minute you saw me that I was a Potter."

"And you tried to hide behind the Sun name," Severus smirked.

Blake rubbed his hand over his head.

"Can only try so hard to hide the Potter hair," Blake said with a lopsided grin. "Can't do much else for the Potter features either. You can always pick out a Potter in a crowd. Much like a Weasley."

Severus gave the man a soft smile as he looked down at him sprawled out under him. Despite his words, Severus knew that the other man didn't hide who he was and he was sure he wouldn't care if the truth came out tomorrow, the only thing that he was concerned about was Voldemort learning the truth. That the man would learn that the prophecy could talk about two people marked by the Dark Lord and not one.

"You wouldn't care, would you?" Severus asked softly.

"About what?" Blake asked with a frown.

"Everyone knowing the truth," Severus whispered.

"About what?" Blake repeated. "There are a lot of truths I could tell people that would have them in an uproar."

Severus quirked a smile as he looked down at the other man.

"As you grow older," Blake said softly. "You learn there is a time and a place for everything and saying or doing the right thing at the wrong time can fuck things up."

"Are you talking from the future point of view?" Severus asked in interest.

"No," Blake replied with a twisted smile. "That is a whole other type of torture."

Severus started at that as he looked down at the man below him, is that what the man really thought? Reliving his past as a torture?

"A self-induced curse," Blake muttered with a faraway look in his eyes. "Much like the Deathly Hallows. Except one thing."

"And what would that be?" Severus whispered.

Blake reached up and pulled him down and kissed him as Severus moved to lay between the man's legs. He ran a hand down the man's side as he deepened the kiss before pulling back slightly.

"I have you," Blake whispered in his ear and Severus shivered. "And so much more that I didn't realise I was missing."

xXx

Severus moved into Blake's rooms after dinner to see the man sprawled out across his lounge, snoring softly. Blake had left early that morning to assess Bill Weasley and this was the first time all day that Severus had seen him. The man lay on his side with his arm dangling over the side of the bed as he snored softly. Dead to the world.

He smiled at the sight, the man didn't normally sleep deeply and even if the nightmares had started to ease off, he still hadn't been sleeping well. He crouched down before him and reached out and ran his fingers over the man's wrist, feeling the slight scar under his hand. He could almost feel the metal closing over his own as he remembered Blake's memories and he was amazed again that the man could sleep at all.

Severus started when a knock sounded on Blake's door but the man didn't wake. Severus left him to answer the door to find Ry on the other side.

"Hi, Professor." Ry said softly. "Is Dad back?"

Severus slipped out of the room and into the hallway and Ry stepped back.

"He's asleep," Severus replied once the door was closed. "Did you want something?"

"No," Ry replied and shifted slightly. "Just wanted to talk."

Severus looked the boy over and he was stuck with how much he looked like a blend between Blake, James and Lily and how much he was also his own person.

"Nice show the other night," Severus said softly as he moved off down the hall and Ry fell into step with him. "Your father is a bit miffed that you know his tricks."

"Ha," Ry replied with a grin. "He just wanted to call his sword."

"It's his fall back," Severus remarked in amusement as he opened the door to his rooms and held it for Ry to enter.

Ry walked in and looked around as Severus moved towards the small kitchen attached to the living room. The staff rooms were all basically the same with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, a small office and living room.

"I didn't know you still had your own rooms?" Ry said softly, looking around.

"Of course," Severus replied as he passed a glass of juice to Ry and took a seat on his lounge with a mug of coffee. "The Headmaster insisted."

"Plus, it gives you somewhere to hide from Dad," Ry replied with a grin and the two men shared a look.

"Are you ready for your NEWTS?" Severus asked as he leaned back on the lounge and Ry winched.

"I think so," Ry replied. "Hermione keeps jumping out of nowhere with questions for us. She scared the crap out of Ron yesterday which has made him a bit jumpy today. He thinks nowhere is safe from her."

Severus smirked at that and Ry gave him a smile.

"With your display," Severus commented. "I'm sure you have a place in the Auror program already."

"See!" Ry cried. "That's what I keep telling Hermione! She just won't listen, saying that the tests are more than just about how good you can fight."

Severus chuckled as the boy relaxed back into his seat and they could just forget for a little while that there was a Dark Lord after the boy's head and what was to come in the coming months.

xXx

Harry collapsed in his chair at the Head Table and grabbed the whole pot of coffee and pulled it close as he took in the scent with a sigh.  He was sure that the house elves made one just for him as he poured it into a mug and sweetened it to his liking before resting his pounding head on the table. It was so early that he was the only one at the table and only a few students were scattered around the hall.

A slight huff beside him had him turning his head slightly to peer up at Minerva looking down at him with a stern look on her face as she took a seat next to him. Disapproval in every line of her body.

"Another night out with Mr Dracka?" Minerva snapped and Harry winched at the sound. "Causing trouble on the streets and with the muggle police?"

"They haven't arrested us yet," Harry replied mildly without raising his head.

"You are met to be setting an example for the students of this school, Mr Sun." Minerva remarked primly.

"What kind of example are we setting?" Dracka asked as he moved towards the table and looked him over. "What's wrong with you?"

Harry buried his head in his arms and was regretting coming up to the hall for food, he should have just made his own in his rooms. His pounding head reminded him why he hadn't done that.

"You don't know, Rolf?" Minerva asked.

"No," Dracka replied over his head as he took a seat next to him. "Nothing to do with me."

"For a change," Minerva muttered but Harry heard her.

Harry was sure he would have seen the vampire flash his fangs at the woman if his head wasn't buried in his arms. He started slightly as a hand was laid on his back and glanced over to see Severus looking down at him in concern.

"I shouldn't have come up here," Harry groaned and Dracka snorted.

Severus placed a pain potion on the table next to his plate but Harry didn't take it as Minerva looked him over.

"You really don't look well, Blake." Minerva said softly. "Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey."

Harry just groaned and buried his head again.

"Going to see Albert soon," Harry said into his arms. "After I can get some coffee into me. Wasn't expecting so many people to be up this early in the morning."

Harry could almost feel the tension from the two men beside him at his words.

"Mr Sun and Dracka were you setting a bad example for this school last night?" Albus asked with amusement in his voice and Harry groaned.

He lifted his head up to look over at Albus and the smile on the man's lips slipped slightly as Harry picked up the coffee, ignoring the pain potion as he took a sip. It was still a bit too hot to drink, but he needed it.

"Are you sick, Blake?" Albus asked.

"No," Harry replied as he pushed the potion towards Dracka. "Severus you can have that back."

Dracka passed the potion to Severus on the other side of him. The man's dark eyes burning into him before he placed it away in his robe without saying a word. Harry finished off the cup of coffee, the slight burn taking away from his pounding head. He used his cane to get to his feet as the other teachers watched him.

"Right there?" Severus asked gently as Harry paused once he was on his feet.

"I'll see you later," Harry replied, sidestepping the question.

"Don't think you can get away with that answer," Severus purred as he got to his feet and fell into step with him.

"Thought I would give it a try," Harry replied as they slowly made their way out of the hall.

The pounding in his head setting him off balance slightly and Severus moved closer as they moved through the hall and out of the castle. Harry eyed the stairs and they paused.

"I'm assuming that Bill Weasley didn't pass his examinations?" Severus said mildly, watching him eyeing off the steps.

"Ah, no." Harry replied. "I would say he still needs a couple more years to learn his craft. He will make the Master title, just not yet."

Harry moved down the stairs, his head pounding on every step while Severus watched him with sharp eyes.

"Always something new to learn in curse breaking," Harry commented, more to distract himself than anything. "Some type of magic or ward that was placed a thousand years ago that someone didn't write down and can cause you trouble when you activate it."

"Like in Russia?" Severus asked softly.

" _Da_ ," Harry replied with a grin. "And that's another thing. Just when you wrap your mind around the magic here, you go overseas and it's another matter. Bill has had a lot of exposure to Egyptian magic and those people knew how to kill someone six different ways before lunch."

Harry paused as his head spun slightly and Severus stepped closer just in case as Harry waited it out.

"Do you need that pain potion now?" Severus asked softly, no sneer in his voice.

"Already took what I could, Severus." Harry replied with a sigh. "Hence the spinning head. Albert will have something for me when we get there."

Harry looked over to see Severus frowning at him.

"How do you know him?" Severus asked.

"Who? Albert?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"Met him in the town I was staying in after I got here," Harry said softly. "He picked up on my dark magic. I had been in town picking up supplies and got into a bit of an argument with this bloke. The man pulled a knife on me, the bastard. I had Ry with me at the time and the child just squealed at the top of his lungs. Albert came out of the nowhere and grabbed him."

Harry paused as his thoughts went back to that day and he winched slightly and rubbed his temple. Severus waited him out as they stood on the front lawns of the school.

"I must admit, I took a beating from the man until I was able to get over to Albert and Ry," Harry said softly. "I could feel the dark magic pushing to take over."

Severus's eyes widened at those words and Dracka's story of when his brother died came back to him. That was a dark time in the other man's life.

"Albert took one look at me and called me an idiot," Harry said with a quirk to his lips. "As Ry just sat there in his arms and giggled as he looked up at Albert. The boy looked so small in his arms and all the anger just drained out of me. I just stood there as the bloke that attacked me scampered."

"When was this?" Severus asked.

"A few months after I stepped through the time gap," Harry replied as they started moving again. "He said that I needed to control my dark magic if I wanted to give Harry the life he needed. That the man that attacked me had been drawn to my magic. My mind was still a mess from what happened before I stepped through the time gap and pulling my magic close was the last thing on my mind."

"What did you do?" Severus asked.

"After realising my stupidity?" Harry asked with a lopsided grin. "I really didn't know what to do, Severus. From the moment that I picked up the child, I had no idea what I was doing. Then this big man, that I had never met before, was holding the boy and pointing out that I was an idiot. I just stood there, bleeding from the fight in shock and I felt like the idiot that he had called me."

"And still calls you that," Severus muttered.

"That he does," Harry agreed as they stepped passed the wards. "He was there after I got back from Dracka's Coven…after I killed his brother…"

Harry trailed off and Severus let his hand rest on his shoulder.

"I was a mess that night," Harry said softly and rubbed his arching head. "He'd been helping me with Ry and in one move I had undone all that he had done to try and help me."

Severus wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close and Harry took in the comfort.

"Stupidity on new levels that night," Harry said softly. "Can you apparate us?"

Severus arms tightened around him before pushing him back. The man's dark eyes looking him over.

"Just a migraine, Severus." Harry said softly. "Over did it with testing Bill yesterday."

"Are you going to be sick after I apparate us?" Severus asked.

"I'll make sure to throw up the other way," Harry replied with a smirk.

"That answer fills me with confidence," Severus drawled.

Harry gave the man a smile.

"I'm good to go when you are Mr Snape," Harry said with a challenge in his voice.

xXx

Severus leaned back in his chair in the waiting room in Albert's surgery as he glanced around at the people waiting. There was a blonde-haired woman a few seats down from him that he was sure was a Veela or part Veela and a man that would stare at the woman until she looked up then would look away quickly. He smirked at the two and the woman gave him a glance in amusement before going back to her book.

His eyes were drawn to the young child of about five that had a tail as his father played on the floor with some blocks, his own tail wagging slightly and Severus had wondered what the hell he had gotten into. He glanced over at the receptionist but she was busy on the computer after giving Blake a very cold look as the man had moved passed with Albert.

A few people had come and gone and Severus quickly learnt that Albert wasn't the only Doctor that worked in the surgery and wondered how human the people were, patient or Doctor, as the minutes ticked away. Severus was just starting to think he should have brought a book when a young man in his late teens came through the door.

The Veela tensed as the man glanced around with pale eyes as he made his way across the room. Severus looked the man over from his slim build to his pitch-black hair and he found it hard to look away as he moved, with a grace of a dancer, towards the reception desk and spoke to the woman before talking a seat across from Severus. The man gave Severus a smile and Severus felt his gut clench at the look then frowned.

He glared down his nose at the man even if he felt like doing something completely different and the young man looked away and the spell was broken. Severus was unsure what the man was but it wasn't human.

"Incubus," The Veela whispered to Severus and he looked over at her. "He likes you."

"I'm sure my partner would have words to say about that," Severus drawled.

The veela gave a laugh and the young man looked up with interest and Severus felt the draw to the young man but now that he knew what he was, he was able to push it to the side. He had never seen an incubus before since they stayed away from wizards preferring to hunt amongst muggles to satisfy their hunger. They were very much like vampires but their need was different, instead of blood it was sex.

"He's drawn to your dark power," The veela said softly.

"Is that so?" Severus purred and looked over at the young man before focusing on the veela. "Severus Snape."

"Isabella Colington," The veela replied softly. "Yes, he is young and still learning to control the power."

"Much like a veela?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Isabella's lips curved up in a smile and she gave Severus a wink.

"New meaning to the saying; stuck between a rock and a hard place," Severus muttered and Isabella gave another twinkling laugh.

The Incubus looked over at the sound and gave a soft smile that went through Severus and he shifted slightly. The veela gave a smile over to the young man and he looked away.

Just then Blake limped out from one of the back rooms and the Incubus's eyes snapped around to him and Severus felt on edge as his lover looked over at him and gave Severus a grin. Blake moved closer as the young man sat forward in his seat, an intense look in his eyes. Blake didn't even glance at the man as he moved towards Severus.

"Your partner?" Isabella asked, looking Blake over. "Attracted to power, I see."

Severus straightened at those words, his eyes hardening.

"Please don't take that the wrong way," Isabella said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend."

"Making friends?" Blake asked softly, when he got close.

"Well," Severus drawled. "You do take me to the most interesting places."

Isabella gave a laugh as the Incubus eyed them both off and Severus felt even more on edge. Blake looked over to the young man before looking back to Severus with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips.

"You sounded just like the vampire," Blake said with a smirk.

Isabella tensed and Blake gave her a slight smile and Severus was struck by how comfortable Blake looked surrounded by people that were not completely human.

"Well?" Blake said. "Would you like to head back to the school?"

Severus rose to his feet as Blake glanced around before grabbing his hand and Severus started slightly at the move. He glanced down into Blake's green eyes.

"Do not compared me to Dracka," Severus purred.

Blake's lips quirked up in a smirk that went right through Severus in a way that a spell never could. His eyes only for the man beside him. Everything else falling away.

"Never, love." Blake purred back.


	18. Chapter Thirty Four

Harry watched the large brown owl as it flew in circles around the Great Hall as its sharp eyes looked around. He was sure that the owl was for him but it couldn't lock onto him, he frowned as he watched the animal. Still unsure why they had trouble finding him.

"One for you?" Albus asked in amusement as he sat next to him and they both watched the animal.

"I think so," Harry replied.

There were only a few students in the Great Hall this early in the morning and it was only Albus and himself at the Head Table.

"Why are you up so early, Blake?" Albus asked as he sat back in what would normally be Severus's seat.

Not that Dracka, Severus and himself took much notice and would take whatever seat was free when they walked in or Harry would sit with the students. Most of the other teachers would stick to their seats but Harry had noticed that Minerva had started to sit between Albus and Severus for some meals.

"Got an early phone call from France and decided I would need coffee before facing the day," Harry replied as the owl winged down and landed on table before them and looked between the two men. "Have you got mail for Blake Sun?"

The owl cocked its head to the side slightly before hopping towards him, Harry reached out and untied the letter, feeling the magic under his fingers and he frowned. It was nothing dangerous, more a signature of the person that had sent the letter than anything else.

The owl gave a hoot before taking flight out of the hall and Harry flicked the letter open and froze as the blood drained from his face.

"Blake?" Albus asked in concern.

Harry's eyes darted to the man before focusing back on the paper in his hand.

"It's from the Dark Lord," Harry said softly. "He wants to meet."

Albus tensed beside him and Harry laid the letter out on the table for the man to see.

_'Blake Sun,_

_I wish to call a meeting between two Dark Wizards under the safe passage pact set forward by my magic and blood and yours._

_Dark Lord Voldemort.'_

"There is no time and place," Albus said with a frown.

"There is," Harry replied. "You can't see it and I can't tell you due to the spell on the paper."

Harry sat back in his seat in thought.

"Is this a trap?" Albus asked softly, taking the letter in his hand.

"No," Harry replied. "He has stated safe passage, he is bound by his magic. I have no idea what he wants to talk to me about."

"You are both Dark Wizards," Albus pointed out, with no insult to his words.

"So, we have something in common?" Harry asked in amusement. "We are both orphans as well, if you are looking for more similarity."

"That is not what I meant, Blake." Albus snapped. "And you know it."

Harry gave the man a wink but he still felt on edge.

"It is set for two days' time," Harry said as he took the letter back. "That's all I can say. Do you want me to meet him?"

Albus looked taken a back at the question and Harry looked at him in amusement.

"It's your call, Albus." Harry said. "You are the lead on this man."

"It could give us information that could help us," Albus stated, sitting back in his seat as he thought about it.

"Or it could give us nothing," Harry pointed out as more students floated into the hall.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Albus muttered. "Would you be in danger?"

"At the meeting?" Harry asked. "No, but he can make an attempt before or after, just not at the meeting. He would be bound, the same as myself to give him safe passage."

"Is this just a Dark Wizard agreement?"

Harry looked at the man in amusement.

"Are you saying that Light Wizards have higher standards and don't need to be bound by their magic not to harm the other person they are meeting?" Harry asked.

"Mr Sun," Albus said sternly, but Harry could see the twinkle in his eyes.

"It's more common when a Dark Lord is involved," Harry replied. "See I can answer a question."

Albus gave a chuckle before turning back to the letter.

"Very well," Albus replied. "As long as you will be safe."

"As safe as a rabbit surrounded by lions," Harry replied with a wink.

Harry took a pen out of his pocket and signed the letter with a little bit of his magic coating the ink as he wrote and the letter flashed briefly as magic settled around Harry as the agreement fell into place.

"Done," Harry said and slipped the letter away just as Dracka and Severus moved into the hall talking quietly. "Are you going to break the news to them?"

Albus glanced over at his two teachers and they paused when they saw Albus sitting in Severus's seat.

"Ah," Albus muttered and Harry grinned at him.

"Good luck," Harry muttered as the two men moved forward.

Harry pulled out the letter and held it out to Severus, his lover took it with a frown as Dracka sniffed the air slightly.

"From the Dark Lord?" Dracka asked before Severus could open it and the other man paled.

"I'm playing the Albus card," Harry stated as he leaned back in his seat with his coffee in his hands.

Severus gave him a glare before turning back to the letter as Dracka stood close beside him.

"About time he contracted you," Dracka commented mildly before crashing into the seat next to Harry and filling his plate while the others looked at him. "What are you planning Blake?"

Everyone turned to him and he gave a smirk that had Severus groaning as he passed the letter back to him. Albus moved to his feet with a twinkle in his eye.

"Keep me informed," Albus said calmly as he looked over his half-moon spectacles at Harry.

"Sure thing, boss." Harry said with a wink and Albus gave a groan as he turned away.

xXx

Harry flicked the letter open again that night with a frown, looking at his signature at the bottom of the page under Voldemort's own signature.

"Why?" Severus asked softly as he moved into the room and looked down at him.

"More information is required," Harry said softly as he looked at the other man. "I've been on the phone for most of the day."

"Why did you agree to meet with him?" Severus hissed.

"Albus thinks we might get information out of him."

"And what do you think?"

"That it will be a waste of time," Harry replied as he rubbed his head.

"Then why?"

"Curiosity," Harry replied.

"Do you have any idea why he wants to meet?"

"None," Harry said softly in thought. "It could be the simple reason that we hold some of his death eaters or some other reason that we are unaware of."

Severus looked down at him with dark eyes, face unreadable as Harry watched him.

"Will you be safe?" Severus whispered.

"He and I are bound to give the other safe passage," Harry replied. "It's before or after the meeting that is the concern. More after the meeting. This will also come down to how much the Dark Lord knows when it comes to this kind of ritual."

"So, it is a ritual?" Severus asked in interest as he took a seat next to Harry on the lounge

"Oh, yes." Harry replied as he leaned back and moved his leg to rest over the top of Severus's leg and the man let his hand rest on his thigh. "A lot will come down to what the Dark Lord does."

"You have something in mind?" Severus whispered as he ran his hand up and down his leg.

"Yes," Harry said with a smirk.

Severus gave him an intense look before nodding.

"Should be a busy couple of days," Harry said and shared a smirk with the other man.

xXx

Harry sat at the large table in the Department of Mysteries and looked around at the men and women present. Miller was beside him with his team with Kingsley seated on the other side directly across from him. Dylan Dogwood was at the head of the table looking them all over with a glare, the scar running across his face giving him a rough look, as Ben Filter, the Head of the Auror Department sat next to him, with a few other men and women scattered down the table from files and other smaller departments or aids. All were under the privacy spell that Harry had placed on the room when he had arrived.

Harry looked around with a frown, it was very uncommon for both Departments to work together and as his eyes moved to the Minister of Magic at the other end of the table, every person seated were not happy with him.

"Well," Dogwood growled, once everyone was settled. "You called this meeting, Sun. What mess have you gotten into?"

Harry stood up and pulled the letter from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"The Dark Lord has called a meeting between him and I," Harry said smoothly and looked around the room.

The room went silent, everyone stilling at his words.

"Explain, Sun." The Minister of Magic growled, his gold eyes flashing.

"The Dark Lord has asked for a meeting between Dark Wizards under the terms of a safe passage," Harry explained and whispers started up around the table. "I can't tell you the time or place, due to the spell worked into the letter, only that it is tomorrow."

People started calling out questions and Harry waited them out.

"Enough!" Scrimgeour snapped and the table quieted. "What do you have in mind, Sun? You wouldn't have called us here, otherwise."

Harry gave the man a grin, which the man just glared at.

"After the terms of the agreement ends," Harry said softly. "I will no longer be bound to the safe passage agreement. While the meeting is going on, there is nothing to stop anyone from making a strike either."

"While you-know-who is distracted," Miller said into the silence.

"Correct," Harry replied. "It also won't stop him from having something in place. He may try to make a strike here or somewhere else. Albus Dumbledore is aware and will have the school in lock down until after the meeting. Head Auror Filter and Kingsley, he may make a strike against the Death Eater Prison as well."

"We'll have something in place," Head Auror Filter said softly.

"Sun!" Scrimgeour growled in warning.

"Yes, Minister?" Harry asked innocently.

"I am still the Minister of Magic," Scrimgeour said with a glare.

"Yes," Harry agreed. "I am mainly just putting forward suggestions, Minister."

Scrimgeour glared down the table at him and Harry noticed a few people shifting under the man's glaze, even if it wasn't directed at them.

"I wouldn't be able to handle the paperwork," Harry said with a wink to the man and the tension in the room eased slightly.

"What do you have in mind, Sun?" Dogwood snapped and all eyes turned in his direction. "Since I'll be doing a lot of the fucking paperwork!"

Harry gave the man a smirk and Dogwood groaned before swearing at him.

xXx

Harry walked along the path near the river as he looked around the large park and carefully drop a stone to the ground from his pocket as he moved towards the meeting place. People were still out as the sun started to set and he watched the muggles enjoying the large park in the middle of London. He was unsure why Voldemort had decided on somewhere so muggle and maybe he believed that he would have the upper hand due to the chance of innocents getting hurt.

That's where Voldemort had misjudged him and didn't understand Harry and the network he had. He could already pick out the undercover police moving through the people in the park as Harry walked along calmly. The last ray of the sun disappearing as the lights came on around him as he dropped another stone as he circled around where the meeting was going to be held at. He spotted Voldemort easily standing in the middle of a grassy area with no one around him and noticed a few muggles turning and walking the other way as they reached an invisible wall, so Harry knew the man had placed a ward.

Harry looked the man over while he limped towards him over the grass as he dropped the last stone and marker to the ground. The man stood in the middle of the grassy area, in a long black jacket and pants and a light grey shirt as he stood calmly watching him with red-brown eyes and short brown hair. If it weren't for the eyes and the presence around the man he could have easily blended in with the muggles around them.

Harry passed through the anti muggle wards as he moved closer to the taller man. He stopped a few metres in front of him and could feel the magic of the pact settling around them and the dark magic from the other man as he leaned on his cane and looked the man over.

"Mr Blake Sun," Voldemort said calmly.

"Dark Lord Voldemort," Harry replied as he moved his cane in front of him and leaned on it. "What would you like to talk about this lovely afternoon?"

Voldemort looked him over and sneered and Harry could feel his dark magic brushing over him and the slight whispers in the back of his mind.

"You are a very interesting man," Voldemort drawled. "A very Dark Wizard on the side of the light and yet I can find very little about you before you took over guardianship of Harry Potter."

"You are not the first person to point that out," Harry replied mildly. "I'm a man that likes to travel, I get bored being in the same place for too long."

Voldemort's red tinged eyes looked him over as the dark magic pushed on him slightly. Harry loosened his hold on his magic and Voldemort's eyes widened, the only emotion he had shown so far.

"See," Voldemort sneered. "I can taste your dark magic on the air and yet you bow to Albus Dumbledore."

"I have a contract with Albus," Harry replied calmly.

"Is that what it takes?" Voldemort asked and shifted slightly. "You are a man brought by a contract?"

"I also have a contract to protect Harry Potter," Harry said softly.

Voldemort's eyes flashed at his son's name.

"Yes," Voldemort purred. "I can see the Potter line in you, even if it isn't your last name and I can also see the link you have with Severus Snape in that ring you wear."

Harry smirked at the other man as he moved his hands so that the ring glinted in the lights near them around the park.

"Do I hear a hint of bad feelings there?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Severus always craved power," Voldemort purred. "You have power, there is no doubt there, but can you keep him? He was always a man to play by who holds the most power, whether it was Albus Dumbledore or myself. Are you sure he won't turn on you? Now that he is no longer bound to me?"

Harry clenched his jaw and Voldemort smirked.

"I can forgive you wanting him," Voldemort smirked. "He has his own dark power to be drawn to…as well as the vampire that seems to be your second."

Harry smirked at the man's words.

"Are you having problems drawing them to your side?" Harry asked softly and knew he'd hit his mark at the glare he received in reply. "Power isn't everything, Dark Lord Voldemort."

Voldemort laughed, sending a chill down Harry's back.

"Power is everything!" Voldemort hissed. "And you, Blake Sun. Have power, both magically and your connections."

"What do you want?" Harry asked as he stood up straighter.

"I have an offer," Voldemort said softly.

"I'm listening," Harry replied.

"Harry Potter and Severus Snape have safe passage," Voldemort said softly. "You will stand as my equal, if you give me the Ministry and Hogwarts."

Harry stilled as he looked at Voldemort with the whispers of the man's dark magic pushing at him and he raised an eyebrow at the other man.

"That is your offer?" Harry asked in amusement.

"Yes," Voldemort hissed and the dark magic increased around them, pushing on Harry.

"You are not offering me anything that I couldn't take tomorrow," Harry replied calmly and Voldemort reeled back from his words. "You call me a Dark Wizard, then forget what I am?"

"You stand on the light side," Voldemort whispered.

"And your point would be?" Harry replied mildly. "Do you have anything else to offer? Or is this meeting over?"

Harry watched the other man carefully, the second that he said that the meeting was over Harry was fair game and he had to work quickly.

"There is a prophecy," Voldemort hissed as he stepped forward and Harry got the feeling that the man was trying to play his trump card.

"Between yourself and my son," Harry cut in. "Yes, I am aware of that."

"Then you know what will happen next?" Voldemort said softly and Harry frowned.

" _'Neither can live while the other survives_ ,'" Harry quoted softly.

"Yes," Voldemort hissed as he moved another step closer. "You would risk your son's life on a gamble?"

"I would place my money on Harry Potter any day," Harry replied as he looked up at the Dark Lord before him.

"If you don't take my offer," Voldemort hissed. "I will do more than just kill the boy and don't think for a second that I would stop there. I will destroy everything you have built up and anyone you care about."

"I have no doubt about that," Harry replied as he brought his magic forward and Voldemort took an instinctive step back.

Harry could now taste the magic on the air and he grinned at the other man, dark magic swirling but before the agreement dropped between them, neither man could make a move. This was more a show of power between two Dark Wizards.

"Do you think you can get through me to get to him?" Harry asked calmly.

Voldemort's lips twisted up in a smile and he gave a cold laugh.

"Do you think Severus and the vampire will be able to resist my dark pull?" Voldemort countered with a sneer. "Dark power, pulls dark power, Sun. It may be a lesson that you learn in blood and death."

Harry gritted his teeth as Voldemort's dark power settled on his shoulders. He was in no doubt who held more dark magic, he could never compete with a Dark Lord on power alone. He had to rely on other means.

"You may have power, Sun." Voldemort hissed. "But I am a Dark Lord. This meeting is done."

In a split-second Harry threw up a powerful anti apparation ward as he activated his markers and curled his magic around his body in a shield but Voldemort just looked at him calmly without moving. Both men eyeing each other off, neither one bound by the agreement and Harry was sure that if he hadn't thrown up the anti-apparation ward that someone else would have.

"You trap yourself here?" Voldemort asked in amusement. "Or do you have more to say?"

"You don't think I talk enough?" Harry asked in amusement. "Most people say I talk too much."

A scream split the air but Harry didn't turn as he kept Voldemort in his sights. Harry could feel Voldemort's power swirling around him but he had to keep the man busy. Harry could see movement from the edge of his ward and knew that Voldemort's supporters had started to arrive but he didn't move or lift his wand and Voldemort narrowed his eyes at him.

"Or is this a trap for me?" Voldemort said slowly and looked around.

Harry took a step back, it felt like he was moving through water, the magic was that thick in the air. Both his own and Voldemort's power swirling around them.

"The one thing you should know about me," Harry said carefully as he took another step back. "Is that I am very good at contracts…and their loop holes."

Voldemort's gaze fell on him and Harry gritted his teeth as the man brought his dark magic crashing down on his shoulders. Harry panted slightly at the feeling and pushed it to the side, letting it flow around him, feeling like a pebble in a stream as the magic washed over him.

"Also, that I've had a very long time to work with dark magic," Harry said with a grin.

"So have I," Voldemort hissed as Harry let his cane fall.

Harry smirked and tangled his fingers in the man's dark magic around him and Voldemort's eyes widened. Both men freezing.

"You wouldn't dare," Voldemort hissed, his eyes flashing red.

"Do you want to put it to the test?" Harry asked as he ran his fingers through the dark magic, feeling the magical signals of more people apparating in and crossing his ward.

Voldemort and Harry stood frozen, each staring the other down, both unsure which way this could go. Harry knew he would pay a higher price if he followed through on his threat as Voldemort's eyes bore into him and Harry could see slight doubt in the other man's expression. They had reached a cross road.

Suddenly a net of magic smashed into them and Harry crashed to his knees as pain shot through his head. He heard others cry out around him. His hands clenched into the earth as the magic washed over him and he quickly wrapped his shield around him thickly, but it didn't stop. Voldemort's foot suddenly smashed into his stomach, flipping him onto his back and he grunted at the unexpected attack.

Harry groaned at the pain and looked up into Voldemort's red-brown eyes as the man glared down at him. Still standing as the net of magic pushed on them.

"You think that will work against me?" Voldemort hissed, but Harry could see the strain in the man before his lips twisted up. " _Crucio_!"

Harry curled up on the ground as pain raced over his body and he swallowed down the screams of pain as he pushed against the spell as the net of magic caged him to the ground. He could feel the darkness gathering at the edge of his mind but the pain kept him from sinking into it. He panted loudly when the Dark Lord lifted the spell and Harry chuckled darkly.

"You think they are after you?" Harry panted as he glanced up at the other man, feeling the trembling in his body from the curse. "And they say I have a big ego."

Voldemort's eyes darted around as Aurors started to move in on them with a sneer on his face. Harry struggled to his knees as both the net spell and Voldemort's dark power pushed at him. He grabbed that dark power and gave it a slight tug and Voldemort's head whipped around, his wand out before him.

"Aurors! Drop your wand!" Someone yelled, but both wizards didn't look away from each other.

"Well?" Harry asked quietly. "Do you want to put it to the test?"

With a snarl the Dark Lord lashed out with his magic and Harry pulled on his as he flared the shield around him. It stopped most of the attack but didn't stop him from going sprawling onto his side with his head pounding. He flinched as Voldemort smashed through his ward as he apparated and he quickly tied the ward back into the ground before his eyes rolled up and he passed out from the magic crashing down on him.

xXx

"Stop the spell!" Kingsley barked into his walkie.

The Aurors eased up on the spell and Kingsley's eyes were locked on the still form of Blake. The man wasn't moving.

"Move in," Kingsley ordered with Miller beside him. "Contain all death eaters."

"Yes, sir."

Kingsley and Miller moved forward quickly towards Blake, they had both seen the green spell hit the man and feared the worse as they moved forward. Blake was sprawled out on his side completely limp and pale and Kingsley dropped to his knees in front of him and reached out.

"He's alive," Kingsley announced. "Call your medic."

"David!" Miller ordered as he spoke into his walkie. "We need you here. Blake is down."

"Yes, sir."

Kingsley pushed Blake onto his back and he rolled limply.

"You have to give him credit," Miller remarked with a small smile as he knelt on the other side of the man and glanced around as the Aurors moved in on the death eaters that had fallen under the net spell. "His plans may be mad, but they work."

Kingsley snorted as David knelt down beside them and quickly ran his wand over the man. Blake suddenly groaned and blinked open his green eyes to look up at them.

"What took you so long?" Blake asked softly.

"Your directions need work," Miller replied mildly. "Maybe next time you should place your marker stones better."

Blake just swore at him and the three men grinned down at him.

"He's fine," David said softly with a grin. "Nice dose of the pain curse but otherwise, he's fine."

Kingsley and Miller shared a look, that spell Voldemort had cast had looked a lot like the killing curse. Blake sat up and grabbed his head with a soft groan.

"Right there, Sun?" Miller asked.

"Fantastic," Blake said, sarcasm dripping from his words. "You try being caught in a net spell."

Miller and Kingsley got to their feet and looked around as the Dark Lord's supporters were being rounded up and shared a grin before looking back down at Blake. Kingsley held his hand out to the man and pulled him to his feet as David scoped up his cane and passed it over.

The man didn't look steady on his feet but he was standing as he rubbed his temple with a slightly trembling hand and Kingsley frowned in concern. He looked over to David and Miller and could see the other men watching Blake in concern as well. Blake looked up and glanced around before focusing on them with a lopsided grin, that they knew well.

"Did we win?" Blake asked, a glint in his eyes.

Miler barked a laugh.

"There should be plenty of work for you for the next week," Kingsley replied with a smirk. "Lots of paperwork as well."

"Dylan should be very pleased when he signs off on your pay cheque," Miller added in, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Something to look forward to," Blake deadpanned. "Do you need me here?"

Kingsley looked around.

"No," Kingsley replied. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Blake gave them a nod then grabbed his head with a winch, David pulled a potion out and held it out but Blake waved him off.

"Do you want me to drop the ward?" Blake asked.

Kingsley pulled his phone and dialled Severus's number as he watched Blake.

"Yes," Miller said softly.

Blake closed his eyes and the ward dropped as Severus answered the phone.

"You can move in now," Kingsley said into the phone.

Severus apparated with a soft pop and looked around before focusing on Blake.

"Why are you covered in grass?" Severus drawled looking the man over.

Blake's eyes shot open then he groaned.

"I'm feeling ganged up on here," Blake muttered.

Kingsley gave him a smile before the three men moved away leaving Severus and Blake alone.

"Hey," Blake said with a grin.

Severus looked the man over and his sharp eyes picked up the tremble in his hand as he pulled out two potions and held them out. Blake took them with a small smile, before taking them and passing the empty vials back. Blake's eyes looked over the scene around them while death eaters were apparated away before turning to Severus with a tired grin.

"If this keeps up," Blake said with a grin. "It may just be the Dark Lord knocking on the gates of the school."

Severus looked the man over and his grin started to slip.

"That would still be a challenge," Severus pointed out. "That man always seems to gather people around him."

Blake gave him an odd look and Severus frowned.

"Blake?" Severus asked quietly as the Aurors moved around them, giving them looks.

"Sorry," Blake said. "Nothing. Let's go, I hear a coffee calling my name."

 Severus gave him a last look over before stepping forward and grabbing his arm and apparating back to the school.

xXx

Severus looked up at the knock at Blake's door around lunchtime the next day. He placed his book on the side table next to the lounge he was sitting on.

"Come in," Severus called.

Albus came in with Kingsley and Dracka behind him. Severus got to his feet and they all moved to the dining table. Severus grabbed up the file on the table and held it out to Kingsley and the man gave him a nod of thanks.

"How's Blake?" Kingsley asked as he took the file and opened it on the table before him and taking a seat next to Albus.

"Asleep," Severus replied.

The man had crashed in his bed the moment he'd gotten through the door, only pausing long enough to strip off. He'd only slept for a few hours before he was up and writing his report before heading back to bed again. Severus had watched him the whole time and if Kingsley noticed that Blake's writing in the report wasn't as neat as normal he didn't say anything.

Dracka moved over to the bedroom and stuck his head around the door and Severus could see Kingsley tensing beside him. Dracka moved into the bedroom and Severus smirked. Dracka quickly skipped out of the room with Blake cursing after him and Severus gave the vampire a smirk as the other man grinned.

"He's awake now," Dracka said mildly.

Albus looked over at the vampire in disapproval and Dracka gave him a smirk. Severus moved over to the kitchen to make up coffee as Blake appeared in the doorway in jeans and a shirt and glared at Dracka, his short hair a mess.

"One of these days, vampire." Blake hissed in warning.

"Always with the threats," Dracka said mildly as he moved to sprawl out in the chair between Kingsley and Albus, putting a buffer between him and Blake.

"That's not a threat," Blake replied as he crashed into one of the seats before turning to Kingsley. "How did we do?"

"About twenty death eaters," Kingsley replied. "You'll need to break through the mark. We tried to get into the Riddle mansion but you-know-who turned up and we had to retreat. We believe that the death eaters we captured are only new members."

Blake sighed and rubbed a hand down his face as Severus moved back into the room and placed the tray of coffee and tea on to the table and passed Blake a cup before taking the seat next to him.

"So not as good as it could have been?" Blake asked.

"Afraid so," Kingsley replied with a sigh. "It was the time frame we had to work with."

"We tried at least," Blake replied as he sipped on his coffee. "The Dark Lord had more time to plan this than we did. We took a chance."

"He did try a play against the Ministry," Kingsley announced mildly and watched as Blake paused. "You're in the Minister's good books for the short term."

"Ha!" Blake barked. "That won't last."

Kingsley gave him a smirk.

"Does that extend down to Dylan?" Blake asked with a smirk.

"The Minister is talking about more joint operations with the Department," Kingsley replied with a smirk.

"Ah," Blake muttered. "Might want to avoid the man then."

Kingsley gave Blake a grin.

"Miller would help you out," Kingsley said mildly.

"Are you kidding," Blake exclaimed with a sigh. "Last time I got on Dylan's bad side, Miller and his whole team disappeared on a 'mission' for a month."

Kingsley snorted in amusement as everyone at the table looked at Blake fondly as the man sprawled back in his chair with his coffee cradled in his hands.

"We heard the story up in the Auror department," Kingsley remarked with a smile. "It's not every day that someone sets off the alarms which leads to the whole Ministry building being evacuated and a room needing to be sealed off."

Blake glared over at the dark man and Kingsley gave him a smile as Dracka barked a laugh.

"What did you do?" Dracka asked.

"Someone put two magical items into my office that shouldn't come into contact with each other," Blake muttered. "Hardly my fault."

"Was that before or after he sent that box of Squirts here?" Dracka asked in amusement.

"Before," Blake muttered. "I need an apprentice or at least an aid to sort through all that stuff they shove in there."

Everyone looked at Severus and he just looked back mildly.

"I've already done an apprenticeship, I am not repeating that." Severus drawled.

Blake looked at him in amusement and Severus was glad the man didn't say anything.

"As entertaining as this is," Albus said softly. "We should get back to the matter at hand."

"Dark Lord Voldemort," Blake said softly, Severus started and looked over at the man in surprise.

The man would say Voldemort's name but not often, due to the spell worked into the Dark Lord's name and it was still odd hearing it from him. The only times he may say the name was behind the wards of the school.

"Yes," Albus agreed as he looked Blake over and Severus was sure that he was thinking the same thing he was.

"I've written out some of the conversation that I had with him in that file," Blake pointed out. "I'll get a better transcript when I get a moment to review my memory of the encounter. Nothing much to report. He offered safe passage for Severus and Ry in exchange for me helping him to take the Ministry and Hogwarts."

Severus started at that and looked over at Blake but the man was looking at Albus.

"So, nothing really gained there," Blake stated.

"Except an attempt on the Ministry foiled and over twenty death eaters to be processed." Kingsley pointed out with a frown.

Blake looked over at him and Kingsley gave the man an odd look.

"What?" Blake asked with a frown.

"We were sure that he used the killing curse against you," Kingsley said softly.

Severus tensed and could feel Dracka and Albus tensing as well.

"What!" Blake exclaimed. "No. The killing curse kills, Kingsley. I am very much alive."

"I'm aware of that, Blake." Kingsley said with a sigh. "It was the same colour."

"It wasn't the killing curse," Blake replied in amusement.

"What was it?" Kingsley asked, sitting forward in his seat.

"No idea," Blake replied. "I thought it was just a wave of raw power. Green you say?"

"Yes," Kingsley said.

"There are a few spells that are similar in colour to the killing curse," Blake stated in thought.

"Right," Kingsley said and got to his feet with the file in hand. "Good night, everyone."

Once Kingsley was out the door, the other three men looked at Blake.

"Well?" Severus drawled looking at his lover.

"Well?" Blake drawled back and Dracka snorted.

"Killing curse, Mr Sun." Severus smirked.

"It wasn't the killing curse," Blake repeated.

The three men paused.

"It wasn't," Blake insisted. "Not a mark on me, so couldn't have been the killing curse. Might have just been my magic and his mixing. I'm fine by the way."

"So," Dracka said with a twist to his lips. "What are our plans now?"

The three men turned to Albus.

"Focus on the school," Albus said softly.

"While I process the death eaters," Blake said softly.

Severus grimaced as he looked at his lover.

"Am I going to get another call about breaking you out of prison?" Severus drawled and Dracka perked up in interest.

xXx

Harry gave Dylan Dogwood, the Head of the Department of Mysteries a look over as the man looked up from the file in front of him.

"Good thing you work for me and not the Auror department," Dylan growled. "We can censor out the parts we don't want the rest of the Ministry to read."

"Sounds like the story of my life," Harry replied with a smirk.

"It is with the way you bloody work," Dylan muttered. "Kingsley sent me down the hours you have been working at the prison. I'm cutting it in half and getting him to pay the other half out of the Auror department budget. If he doesn't fucking like it, he can find his own curse breaker to do his dirty work."

Harry gave the man a smirk and Dylan gave him a look over.

"This Graham Simpson?" Dylan asked as he sat back in his seat. "I need Miller to move out on a mission with his team, I could use you backing them up."

"It's not Simpson I'm concerned with at the moment," Harry replied. "It's the Dark Lord and his move on Hogwarts."

Dylan sat forward in his seat his eyes intense.

"Talk," Dylan barked.

"I'm not leaving Hogwarts undefended," Harry said softly.

Dylan looked him over before nodding.

"I'll send a different team," Dylan replied. "And have Miller and his team available to you."

"Thank you," Harry replied softly. "I'll contact Gringotts to see if they can spare a curse breaker."

"You mean I have to break another one in," Dylan growled.

Harry gave the man a smirk.

"One of your favourite past times," Harry said blandly.

Dylan just swore at him and Harry's grin widened as he gave the man a wink.

xXx

Severus was watching Blake from the high table. The man was doing something with a group of third year Slytherins that he couldn’t work out. He had placed a light-coloured wooden box on the table and had it open before him. There were small pieces of what looked like wood or stone before him and cards. At first, he'd thought it was chess but then one of the pieces took to the air dispelling that idea.

“You’re staring,” Dracka stated as he took the seat next to him.

“What's he doing?” Severus muttered.

“Blake?” Dracka asked, grabbing a coffee. “No idea.”

Both men watched him as Blake took something out of the box and placed it on the table. A small something went walking off down the table before Blake reached out and grabbed it.

“Don’t tell me that he's making more figurines,” Severus moaned.

“He better not!” Professor sprout snapped from further down the table. “My roses have only just recovered from his last one!”

Severus smirked in memory until a dark-haired man appeared at the main doors of the hall. He was dressed in a black suit, which fit him like a second skin. His hair cut short in a military style and sharp blue eyes with an air of a man that expects his orders to be carried out immediately, thank you very much.

“I wonder what Sergeant Miller is here for,” Severus muttered as the man looked around the room.

His blue eyes caught Severus’s eyes and he nodded in greeting as he looked over the rest of the hall. His eyes lingered on Blake but moved on as he moved into the hall.

“No idea,” Dracka muttered.

The man glanced in Blake’s direction again before moving towards Potter and his friends instead.

“He’s here to talk to the students about enrolling in the Auror program. I'm sure that the Aurors and the Department of Mysteries haven't worked together so much before Blake came along.” Albus stated as he took the empty seat next to Severus then he frowned. “What's Blake doing?”

Severus just waved his hand while Dracka snorted. Suddenly something small sprinted off down the table to the giggles of the third years as Blake looked after it.

“Perhaps,” Dracka said slowly. “We need a Defence Against Blake Sun class next year?”

McGonagall two seats down snorted into her tea as Severus grinned.

“I have enough trouble filling your position, Mr Dracka.” Albus said blandly with a twinkle in his blue eyes.  “Which reminds me, are you interested in staying for next year?”

Severus watched his lover for a few more minutes before focusing on Miller as he spoke to Ry and his friends and placed a few pieces of paper on the table. His heart clenching at the thought of such young people moving into the Auror program and realised he had come to care about Potter and his friends.

A squeal from his snakes had him looking over and he smirked when the thing that had run down the table was running back towards Blake and the third years as something else flew around the hall to the amusement of the Slytherins. It was good to see laughter amongst the students at his table. He even spied a couple of Ravenclaws sitting there as well as the Hufflepuffs from the next table over.

Blake had a way of drawing people to him, and he was sure the man didn’t even realise he was doing it. It would have been unheard of for different houses sitting together when he was a student, it would have been uncommon only a few years ago. He watched in amusement as Miller made his way over to the Slytherin table giving out forms, mainly to students from Blake’s classes, he noted. When he reached Blake, he swiped the back of the man’s head with the papers.

Severus heard the yelp from his seat as the man dropped some files before Blake and a form for the Auror program. Blake grinned up at him and grabbed up one of the figurines off the table in his hand and held it out to Miller, which had the students giggling around him.

“He's good for this school,” Albus said softly.

“That’s if he doesn’t destroy a part of it,” Dracka muttered from the other side. “I caught him eyeing off the Griffin outside your office the other day, Albus.”

The Headmaster gave a chuckle.

“What was he doing up there?” Severus asked.

“It’s Blake,” Dracka laughed. “Why does he do half the things he does?”

Suddenly Blake jumped up from the table cursing, a small black something attached to his finger as he tried to flick it off as the students laughed around him.

“50 points, Mr Sun!” Professor McGonagall’s voice lashed out like a whip. “For swearing!”

Severus found himself laughing, it may be dark times, but Blake Sun could always keep them entertained.

xXx

Severus walked into Blake’s rooms to see that wooden box that the man had had in the Great Hall sitting on his dining table with the files from Miller next to it. He moved closer in interest, as he looked it over. It was a plain wooden box with nothing on it to hint at what was inside. He placed his hand on the top of it, feeling the rough wood under his palm.

“If you let them out,” Blake purred from behind him, startling Severus. “You have to put them back.”

Severus turned to the other man as he looked at him in amusement.

“And just what would I be releasing, Mr Sun?” Severus asked as he drew himself up to his full height.

“Pandora’s box,” Blake said with a wink then added. “It’s a game.”

Blake stepped around him and picked up the box and flipped the lid open to reveal cards. Blake took a seat at the table and pulled out a couple of the cards and placed them on the table in a row, face up. Severus frowned when he couldn’t see any figurines.

He picked up one of the cards to see a dragon looking up at him. He looked at the other cards to see other creatures, spells, or other things on them. He peered back into the box to just see more cards and Blake looked up at him in amusement.

He gently took the card of the dragon from Severus’s hand and placed it on the table face down and a small figure of a dragon appeared. It looked like it had been made from wood, similar to some chess sets, as it uncurled its body and stretched its back. It turned around and faced away from Blake and looked around.

“They had a set when I went down into the Department the other day,” Blake explained as he looked down at the dragon. “It’s a lost and found. They just shoved it into my office. Like most things they can’t work out, but still look interesting.”

Severus took a seat at the table as he looked at his lover.

“From the future?” Severus asked softly as Blake placed another card face down and vines crawled across the table.

“Yes,” Blake replied. “Quite a way in the future. I used to play this game with my grandchildren.”

Severus started at the admission, Blake was very sparse with information about his past.

“Very neat spell work in the cards,” Blake continued and placed another card down and a phoenix appeared. “I think there's a vampire in here which Dracka would find interesting.”

Severus barked a laugh as the phoenix took flight around the room. He looked up at the bird as he swooped down and the Dragon turned its head to watch it.

“It’s a strategy game,” Blake explained and looked up at Severus and the other man’s breath caught in his chest at the raw look in the other man’s eyes and he knew that Blake was caught up in a memory. “One of my Granddaughters was very good at it.”

Blake looked away and placed another card face down and it looked like a pond of water appeared on the table. Blake flipped the card right way up and the pond disappeared making Severus gasp. Blake looked up at him in amusement.

“And you like to remind me that we are wizards,” Blake smirked and gave him a wink. “I refused to play with Ron, even if he was getting old and forgetful by that point.”

Blake’s voice trailed off as he looked at the dragon on the table and Severus could almost feel the sadness in the man. Severus moved towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort as the dragon decided to take flight after the phoenix. Blake looked up as the two animals as they chased each other around the room before flipping the three cards on the table over and they disappeared.

Blake placed the cards back in the box and closed the lid, placing it back on the table next to the files.

“It takes both light and dark power to make a set,” Blake said softly. “It’s a very good teaching tool for students that haven’t seen magical creatures before.”

“Have you been a teacher before?” Severus asked and wondered why it had taken so long for him to ask that.

“At Hogwarts?” Blake asked, looking up at him. “No. I didn’t have much to do with Hogwarts after I left. There was nothing here for me.”

“What about one of the other magical schools?” Severus asked instead.

Blake looked up at him and gave him a grin.

“Are you asking for my resume, Mr Snape?” Blake asked with a smirk, deflecting the question.

Severus barked a laugh.

“I don’t have time to read a book.” He drawled.

xXx

Ry followed behind his father as he moved towards the gates of Hogwarts with some other seventh-year and a few sixth-year students behind him. He looked around at the students in confusion since there were a lot of the students that weren’t normally in his father’s classes and he was wondering why they were there.

“Where's he taking us?” Ron asked from beside him.

“No idea,” Ry replied.

“Why are you here, Ron?” Hermione asked from his other side.

“The message went out to anyone that had applied to the Auror program or the Department,” Ron replied.

Blake stopped at the front gates of the school and turned to the group.

“Okay everyone,” Blake called out. “We'll be stepping over the wards for today’s lesson because the last time I used dark magic the Headmaster yelled at me for a good twenty minutes.”

A few of the students looked around unsure while Ry snorted and gave his father a grin.

“You all applied for either the Auror Program or the Department of Mysteries,” Blake said softly. “I have gotten the Headmaster’s permission to show you what dark magic feels like since it will be something you will come across in your work and I want you to be prepared.”

A few students looked pale at the thought since they didn’t know Blake as well as his students did. Blake grinned and stepped over the wards of the school.

“Shall we?” Blake asked with a wink and a challenge in his voice.

Ry and his friends stepped forward with all of the students that took classes with his father and the others followed with a little bit of hesitation. His father smiled and moved off towards an area that had been cleared and Ry could see a chalk line already laid out.

“Please remove your wands and any other weapons you may have before stepping into the circle,” Blake called over his shoulder as he stepped over the line and turned to the students. “That’s it, now spread out everyone. Give yourself space.”

Ry grinned over at Ron while Hermione looked concerned as everyone spread out. Blake moved over and picked up a bag of chalk and limped around the line again. The students watched, a lot with large eyes, as he moved back to his starting point and a protection circle flared to life around them.

“Okay everyone,” Blake called. “Close your eyes if you want.”

Ry stood calmly and closed his eyes and waited as his mind drifted. He could feel something like a mist moving around him but when he opened his eyes there was nothing there. He frowned and looked over at his father but he was looking around at the students carefully.

He closed his eyes again and felt something brush against his arm and he shivered. It felt like someone was standing behind him and he turned to look over his shoulder but nothing was there. He turned back and closed his eyes again and could hear a whisper in his ear but when he looked nothing was there and he was standing alone.

“Most of the time,” Blake said softly into the silence. “You will not be able to feel the dark magic but something in your gut will tell you there is something wrong. Dark magic can be used the same way normal or light magic is used. There are certain spells that it likes more than others and if you have dark magic at your core you will be drawn to them, which is the same way if you have light magic at your core.”

Ry could see other students looking around just as confused as him. Yes, he could feel something in the air but it didn’t feel much different than any other magic he had felt.

“I am using dark magic right now,” Blake said softly. “Do you feel any different? Ms Granger?”

“It just feels like normal magic,” The girl said in confusion. “Shouldn’t it feel different?”

“You are young, so it’s harder to tell the difference,” Blake replied. “Close your eyes and I’ll kick it up a notch.”

Ry closed his eyes and could feel something at the back of his head, like a slight pressure but nothing else. Something whispered in his ear and he flicked his head around but nothing was there. It was unsettling.

Then he could see a dark mist gathering around him and he reached out a hand and it brushed over him. He felt angry and frustrated that he couldn’t work out that spell he had been working on for the last week. He balled his fists and wondered why he couldn’t get it right but Hermione had mastered it on her first try!

Then suddenly it felt like something had lifted from his thoughts and he looked over at Hermione with wide eyes. The girl looked as shaken as he did. He looked over to his father who stood calmly leaning on his cane as he looked over the class.

“Dark magic creeps into your mind,” Blake said softly. “It can taint your thoughts, that was a taste of what a dark item would feel like. Unpleasant, yes?”

Murmurs went around the class in agreement.

“Now that you have felt it,” Blake said calmly. “Take note of what it feels like and you will have a better defence against it next time. Now light magic.”

Ry felt something touch him and he jolted to the side like he had been shocked and he looked around as a few other students yelped.

“It is not subtle,” Blake said in amusement. “It is just there.”

Ry felt power around him and he ran a hand around him feeling something slide around his fingers. A few students yelped as they got shocked and Ry looked over to see his father smiling in amusement before the feeling was gone.

“Do not be fooled,” Blake said softly. “A witch or wizard can cast the killing spell with either dark or light power behind it.”

The whole class stilled and went silent at his father's words, then Hermione's hand shot up in the air.

“Yes, Ms Granger?” Blake asked calmly.

“How can you use light magic for the killing curse?” The girl whispered.

“Because magic is still magic at its core, Ms Granger.” Blake replied in amusement. “Remember my class with Mr Malfoy with the Doctor casting the killing curse to end his life of suffering?”

“Yes, sir.” Hermione said, looking pale.

“It’s all about intent,” Blake said softly. “Backing a spell with either light or dark magic can boost the spell but you are still crafting it with magic. You will find that a lot of Doctors will have a core tangled with either magic to help them with healing.”

A lot of students were looking around with wide eyes.

“You will also find in time that you could have a core with light or dark magic and may have already pulled on that magic without knowing,” Blake said with bright green eyes that made even Ry shiver. “Keep that in mind when you move into the Auror Program or the Department. It may save your life one day.”

Ry shivered at his father’s words.

“Thank you, everyone.” Blake called. “You can grab your gear and head back up to the school. If you have any concerns about today’s lesson you can talk to your Head of House or me. Now off you go.”

“Wow,” Ron said coming over to Ry and Hermione. “Are your classes always like this?”

Ry snorted as Hermione smacked Ron’s arm.

xXx

“Did you have fun tormenting your students?”

Harry looked up to see Dracka standing in the shade as he walked up the front steps of the castle

“Always,” Harry replied with a grin.

“At least your lot look happier than after they've had a lesson with Severus,” Dracka replied as Harry came to lean on the wall next to him and they looked out at the students milling around.

“That’s because my students know I can’t give them detentions or take points and that they can walk away anytime they want,” Harry said. “While Severus’s students are doomed.”

Dracka barked a laugh and a couple of students looked over at the pair.

“And I’ve seen a few pale faces after they've had a class with you as well, Mr Dracka.” Harry pointed out.

“I’m a vampire, I have an excuse,” Dracka said, looking down his nose at the other man. “I’m a dark creature you know.”

Harry chuckled in amusement.

“It’s always good to know where they have drawn the line for that position,” Harry remarked with a grin.

Harry stepped away from the wall and took a couple of steps away before turning back to the man with a smirk as he leaned on his cane.

“Can only improve from that! Or there is always a Care of Magical Creatures class!” Harry called out then twisted to the side with a laugh as Dracka sent a spell in his direction to the amusement of the students watching.


	19. Chapter Thirty Five

Harry sat at the back of the large room on the third floor with his feet up on a chair as he looked out over everyone. It was packed with Dracka’s men, the Council, Order members, Ministry workers, Aurors, students, teachers and members of the Department. He couldn't say that he had ever seen so many people from different areas of the magical community in one room before.

Harry tapped the elder wand on his leg as he looked around at everyone and was very happy that he wasn’t in control this time, the Headmaster was. However so far everyone had worked well together while they ran through plans and his eye strayed over to Dylan and the head of the Auror department, Ben Filter, as Dylan made one of his points, his voice carrying across the room. Harry saw Minerva's lips thin at the man's language and Harry was sure that the woman would be having words with Dylan and Harry would make sure he was as far away as possible when that happened.

His eyes caught on Dracka and Severus as Albus and a few others looked over the battle plans that he'd drawn up and he was sure that he would have to make a few changes as Albus wrote something down. He'd gone through the wards on the school early that morning and they had the defences in place for when Voldemort would attack but so far, they hadn't heard anything through Dracka or Albus's spy network. Not that Simpson had made any moves either and Harry tapped his wand in thought. It concerned him that both men had gone quiet, especially Voldemort with the end of the school year coming closer.

His eyes strayed to Severus and Dracka as Ry moved into the room and Severus looked over at him before moving away to speak to the boy and Harry felt his gut clench. Severus clapped a hand to Ry's shoulder and they moved towards Dracka and Albus together. The vampire flashed his fangs at Ry and the other man just looked at him mildly and Harry smirked. The boy was growing up as he stood next to Severus for a while before moving back to his friends at the side of the room.

They had slowly been bringing people into the school over the last few days for this meeting. The mass meeting didn't sit well with Harry, since it ran the chance that Voldemort could find out their plans but they'd had to do it and Harry had laid the charms around the room himself to make sure that anything discussed couldn't be spoken to anyone outside the room. At this stage they would just be planning and waiting which was another thing that didn't sit right for Harry.

Harry yelped suddenly when his wand shocked him and it went skittering across the floor of the classroom. He glared over it and glanced up to see Severus smirking at him as he flicked his fingers from the sting.

“Got away from you, Blake?”

Harry looked over at a smiling Remus Lupin as the werewolf picked up the wand.

“Temperamental thing,” Harry muttered making the other man grin.

“No good wizard would let his wand leave his hand,” Moody growled as he stepped towards him.

“Unless you have a back-up,” Harry replied with a smirk.

“And let it be used against him!” Moody barked. “Bah, you are more of an idiot than I first thought!”

“Who says that Remus could use that wand against me?” Harry remarked. “Go ahead Remus, I’m open.”

Harry held his hands out to his sides to Remus’s amusement as Moody fixed both his eyes on Harry.

“Why are you even here, Dark Wizard?” Moody growled.

“I work here,” Harry replied easily. “It’s easier to corrupt the younger generation that way.”

Harry smirked at the other man as Remus tried to keep the laughter in.

“This is no laughing matter, young man!” Moody snapped.

“Looks can be deceiving, old man.” Harry countered mildly. “You should know that better than anyone.”

“I know the damage your kind can do,” Moody hissed, his real eye flashing. “The destruction your kind can leave in your wake. The death and stink of dark magic.”

“Then feel free not to follow the battle plans I drew up in the Headmaster’s hands then,” Harry said as he slipped his feet off the chair and sat forward in his chair with his arms resting on his knees. “But it would just mean your death, but that is nothing compared to the blood already on my hands, Moody.”

Harry spread his hands out in front of him, palms towards the other man as he glared down at him. The damage to the man's body clear to see from his time fighting against Dark Wizards that wielded the same power that Harry did. If anyone knew what dark magic was capable of, it was the two wizards as they eyed each other off.

“I’ll be happy to add the Dark Lord’s blood to my hands,” Harry said softly. “But not yours or any of my allies.”

Moody locked eyes with him for a couple of minutes before turning on his heels with a growl and stomping off. Harry looked up at Remus, the man was still holding his wand in his hand as Harry leaned back in his seat.

“You have a skill at creeping people out, Blake.” Remus said quietly.

“That may have been mentioned before,” Harry commented lightly to the werewolf.

“Here,” Remus replied as he held his wand out, hilt first.

“Thanks,” Harry said, taking it in his hand and placing it away.

“You know,” Remus mused as he took a seat next to Harry. “Moody's right, most wizards wouldn't let their wands out of their sight, let alone flick it across the room.”

“Good to know I’m not like everyone else then,” Harry stated with a laugh.

“But that just makes me wonder why,” Remus replied mildly.

“Don’t tell me that paranoia is catching?” Harry asked with a grin. “My son is bad enough. Severus is convinced it’s a Potter thing.”

“James had his moments,” Remus remarked. “But he was an Auror.”

“I’ve read some of his files,” Harry admitted. “How is Black still alive?”

“Black family luck,” Sirius cried as he took a seat next to Remus. “We are built from tough stuff.”

“And good timing,” Remus remarked.

Harry snorted as he looked at the two men and hoped everything would work out for them this time around.

“I’m sure the luck came first,” Harry muttered as he looked around. “We could use some at the moment.  I don’t like feeling like a duck sitting in water when it’s hunting season.”

“I don’t know, Blake.” Remus said quietly. “I’ve seen those plans of yours.”

“I’m concerned about the parts I can’t plan for,” Harry said and looked at the two men beside him as he brought up a silencing charm. “There's a prophecy at play.”

“What!” Sirius yelped.

“Why do you think the Dark Lord tried to get into the Department?” Harry remarked quietly. "And needed Ry there?"

“Harry,” Remus whispered, his eyes wide.

“Yes,” Harry confirmed. “Severus and Dracka have a plan.”

“You don’t know it?” Black demanded.

“No,” Harry replied, which still grated on him. “But they know my plan. Whatever happens I need you to let them do what needs to be done. My son’s life could depend on it.”

“But-hey!” Sirius yelped as Remus elbowed him.

“If that’s your plan,” Remus said quietly. “We'll respect that.”

Black glared at Remus before turning on Harry.

“If he dies,” Black hissed. “It’s on your head!”

Harry’s eyes hardened as he looked at Sirius.

“You think I don’t know that!” Harry snapped, his temper flaring. “You don't think that I want to go over there and grab the boy and leave here!”

Remus laid a hand on his arm.

“We both feel the same,” Remus said softly.

Harry cupped his head in his hands before slowly running them over his head.

“I trust Severus,” Harry said quietly. “…I have to trust him.”

“And if you have placed Ry into the hands of a death eater,” Sirius spat.

Harry looked up at Sirius Black standing before him, his grey eyes blazing as he glared down at him. Black seemed to deflate at the look in Harry’s eyes and Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know what the man saw in him at that moment.

“I have already buried my children,” Harry said softly. “I do not plan to bury another.”

Remus paled and even Black looked shaken by the soft words.

“I have buried a wife and lovers,” Harry said into the silence. “I do not take death lightly or place my trust blindly. I would not place my son’s life into the hands of someone I do not trust completely, not only with my son's life but my own life as well.”

All the fight went out of Black and he collapsed back in his chair as he stared at Harry.

“Who are you?” Sirius whispered.

Harry smiled sadly at the man in front of him.

“A man that has seen too much and lived too long,” Harry replied softly and would say no more on the subject.

xXx

Harry tapped his pen against his table in his rooms as he looked over his plans once again, with any adjustments that Dracka or the Headmaster had written in to make sure they were still sound. Everyone had left after being briefed on the battle plans for the school. They had to be seen at their jobs and the Ministry so that the Dark Lord didn’t pick up on the fact that they had a plan in place for when he would attack the castle or the Ministry.

Severus moved into the room and made his way over to Harry and looked over the maps as he placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders and started to massage the tense muscles.

“Everyone should know where they have to be and what they have to do,” Harry said softly. “Albus is keeping a close eye on the wards and is ready to send the signal when the Dark Lord attacks. It’s just a waiting game now.”

“We don’t have long until the end of the term,” Severus muttered as he looked at the map.

“Yes,” Harry agreed. “If he's going to attack it will be soon.”

“Come on, Blake.” Severus whispered in the man’s ear. “You need sleep.”

Harry sighed as he looked over the table as he ran plans through his head, looking for loop holes. He looked up at Severus, his green eyes locking with Severus and the man gave him a soft smile. Severus stepped back as Harry got to his feet. The other man was right, since he would be no use to anyone without a good sleep as they moved towards the bedroom.

xXx

Miller moved into the café that Blake had asked to meet at and glanced around the busy shop. It took him a little while to spot the man, sprawled out in chair, near the glass windows and he gave a small smile. The man had a way of blending in and with the way he held his magic, he felt just like every other muggle moving around him as Miller stood in line to order.

He could feel a couple of eyes on him as he took stock of the shop and everyone in there and the exits but that was more due to his training than the chance of trouble. His eyes caught on Blake again as the man stared out into the street, looking like he wasn't paying attention to anyone but Miller knew better.

Miller took a seat at the table across from Blake and the man looked up with a smile and shook his offered hand.

"Hey, Miller." Blake greeted.

"Nice place," Miller commented.

"Close enough and yet far enough away from the Ministry," Blake replied as he leaned further back in his chair.

Miller had never met someone that took sitting in a wooden chair to the height of comfort as he looked the other man over. He may look relaxed but Miller could pick out the tension in the other man. He knew Blake very well as those green eyes looked him over.

"Dylan has us on standby," Miller said softly and he felt a silencing spell go up around them. "Am I taking my orders from you?"

"You'll be taking your orders from Severus and Dracka," Blake said softly.

Miller pulled back slightly and looked the man over. Now that he was looking at him closer, he could tell that something wasn't right.

"There is a prophecy between Harry Potter and Tom Riddle," Blake said softly as he sat up in his chair and laid his elbows on the table.

"Your son or you?" Miller asked.

"My son," Blake replied with a hard look in his eyes as he ran a hand over his head. "Severus and Dracka have a plan to combat this. I need you and your team to have their backs. Even if it means putting me down."

Miller sucked in a breath as he looked at the other man, he had not been expecting those words.

"Blake?" Miller whispered.

"I've asked Severus to meet me here in about twenty minutes," Blake replied as he glanced at his watch. "You two need to work out the plan. Severus has a brilliant mind and with Dracka backing him up with strategy I believe they have thought of everything…"

"But you want me to check it over," Miller finished.

"You will have to work out the right teams of Aurors to have in place as well," Blake pointed out. "I have an idea of what they are planning."

"Why are you not finding out this plan, Blake?" Miller asked in interest.

"I am too close," Blake replied with a sigh. "I believe that the killing curse will have to hit my son."

Miller sucked in a breath and could see the raw pain in the other man's eyes and knew that Blake wouldn't be able to let that happen. Would not be able to stand to the side if that was the case and Miller's gut clenched at the thought that the other man could be killed to save his son. Miller was well aware that they lived on a knife's edge in their line of work but that didn't ease his thoughts.

"You have looked at different ways around this?" Miller asked and yet knowing the answer.

"Yes," Blake said simply. "Harry Potter is a horcrux and the part of the Dark Lord's soul needs to be broken for the man to fall. Breaking through that connection needs to be done by either Ry or the Dark Lord, I can't do it."

Miller looked the man over and could tell this was tearing the other man up. Blake looked up at him and Miller held his gaze.

"I need to hold on to the hope that if I survived," Blake whispered. "He can survive, but he doesn't have the protection that I did. The ritual was different. This Dark Lord is different. So many things could go wrong."

Miller grabbed the other man's curled fist in his hand. He could see the frustration and rage in the man's body language. He tightened his grip on the man's hand and Blake's eyes locked with his.

"Do you trust Severus?" Miller whispered.

"Yes," Blake replied without hesitation.

"Then we'll do our best," Miller replied. "I'll have the right people around you when we need them."

"Thank you, Bob." Blake whispered and placed his other hand over his.

Both men looked up when Severus's magical signal touched on them and they watched as the man walked into the café, adjusting his jacket uncomfortably and Miller could feel the man across the table relaxing slightly. Severus's dark eyes landed on them as Miller released Blake's hands. His eyes darted between the two of them as he made his way over.

"You're early," Blake said softly as Severus moved through the silencing charm dropping it.

"Albus just got a new supply of lemon drops," Severus remarked as he took a seat next to Blake as his dark eyes looked Miller over as he gave him a nod.

"Ah," Blake said with a grimace. "I think I might check up on my office in the Department for the afternoon."

Blake got to his feet and Severus looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You have plans to make with Miller," Blake said softly before leaning down and whispering something in the other man's ear.

Miller could pick out the slight widening of Severus's eyes, but if he hadn't been looking for it, he wouldn't have noticed. He knew Severus's history, since he'd pulled his file once Blake started to take an interest in the other man but reading something in a file was different to seeing him working in real life. It had always intrigued him why Blake had chosen this man but Blake had never played by the rules.

Blake gave Severus's shoulder a squeeze, once he straightened back up, and Miller could see the silent conversation pass between them before Blake gave him a small smile before turning to Miller.

"I'll talk to you later," Blake said with a grin. "I'm sure Dylan will find something for me to do, once he realises I'm in the Department."

Miller barked a laugh.

"He'll find you," Miller remarked. "He always finds you."

Blake gave him a lopsided grin before limping from the café, looking just like any other muggle out for lunch in London. Miller looked back to see Severus looking him over with dark unreadable eyes and he held back a shiver. The reminder of Severus's death eater past in that stare.

"Blake has explained some of what you have planned," Miller said into the silence. "I'll be taking orders from you or the vampire and I'll have the Auror teams I want at my back."

Severus's eyes narrowed slightly and Miller couldn't help but think that Blake and Severus were like two sides of a coin. Both were dangerous but in different ways.

"You will not stop what we have planned?" Severus stated more than questioned.

"Correct," Miller confirmed. "But I do need to know what you have planned."

"That sneaky bastard," Severus cursed.

Miller gave the man a grin.

"You get used to it," Miller commented with a slight grin.

Severus and Miller shared a look and Miller could see the moment that the other man came to a decision as he relaxed slightly and brought up a silencing charm around them.

xXx

Severus woke with a start when Blake’s arm tightened around his waist before the man rolled out of bed. Severus looked over to him.  He was standing next to the bed looking around with a frown on his brow. Severus took a moment to look the man over before those pale green eyes landed on him.

“Something isn’t right,” Blake muttered.

The words had Severus out of bed and dressing as the other man did the same.

“What is it?” Severus asked as he pulled on his clothes and slipped his wand into its holster.

“I don’t know,” Blake said softly and the silver sword of his appeared in his hand and he placed it through the loop on his belt. “Something is calling.”

Blake turned and Severus grabbed his arm stopping him.

“Is it the Dark Lord?” Severus asked.

Blake patted his hand and smirked.

“You’re still half asleep,” Blake said with a smile. “I’ll ignore that question.”

“I mean,” Severus drawled. “Does it have something to do with the Dark Lord?”

“I don’t think so,” Blake replied. “Come on.”

Blake grabbed up his cane and they started walking.  Severus followed close behind him through the silent hallways of Hogwarts. Blake led them out of the castle and stood for a moment on the front steps before turning to the right. Following something that Severus couldn’t see or feel.

Blake stopped when he reached the greenhouses and looked down at his watch. Severus tensed when the other man cursed and his face paled slightly.

“It’s the night of the last battle,” Blake whispered. “I had forgotten.”

Severus looked around at the silent castle and grounds.

“Another time difference?” Severus asked softly.

“Yes,” Blake agreed shortly.

Blake pushed open the greenhouse door and Severus gasped. A glowing rip was the best he could describe it as, was in front of him. It stood as tall as him and he could see the other side of the greenhouse through it, like it was glass window with a glowing frame in an odd and changing shape.

“Time rip…well more of a dimensional rip since it’s connected to the same time but different timelines…the magic of two times touching in the same place.” Blake confirmed as he stepped forward. “A large one as well. This would have been the night…”

Blake trailed off and Severus gasped as he was looking at himself but not himself. The man on the other side of the rip was pale, paper white really, with dark bags under his eyes and with limp black hair and cruel black eyes as he glared at them. He looked years older than Severus but they both knew they were looking at Severus Snape. The man’s mouth twisted up in an ugly sneer as his eyes locked onto Blake.

“Potter!” The other Severus Snape snapped. “You idiot!”

Blake stepped forward and Severus wondered how the man knew Blake was Harry Potter before he realised that his lover didn’t try to hide the way he looked. Yes, he probably looked older and had shorter hair but probably still looked the same as the Harry Potter of his time. Even if he didn’t look like the Harry Potter that Severus taught in this time.

“Snape,” Blake replied softly.

“Disregarding orders again, Potter!” Snape snarled, baring his teeth. “Always believing orders are for other people! How many will die for you this time?”

Severus gasped at the venom dripping off the man as he glared at Blake as the man looked back at him calmly. Severus had to give Blake credit as he stood before the rip with his back straight as he looked straight at the man on the other side. Facing the other man head on and unflinchingly.

“Too many, Snape.” Blake replied calmly.

Snape sneered as he stared at Blake. Cold hatred in those dark eyes that even Severus pulled back slightly from.

“We don’t have long, Snape.” Blake said, stepping closer. “Say your piece.”

“You look older,” Snape smirked, eyeing him.

Blake huffed a laugh. “I am old, Snape.”

Snape moved closer to the rip but didn’t touch it as he looked at Blake.

“You survived,” Snape stated softly, dark eyes completely focused on Blake. “The Dark Lord?”

“Dies,” Blake confirmed.

The time rip was starting to close very slowly.

Snape’s face twisted up in an ugly mask, his black eyes glinting in glee and Severus couldn’t stop himself moving forward and laying a hand on Blake’s shoulder. Snape’s eyes flicked up to him and he shivered at the look that the other man gave him as a sneer graced his lips. It was disjointing to see a face so much like his own twisted up as his eyes glinted in twisted glee.

“I should have known,” Snape snarled. “Is he too much like Lily for you? It’s the green eyes staring at you, isn’t it? Hope he's a good fuck at least!”

Snape turned suddenly, at a noise they couldn’t hear, and his eyes widened as he pulled his wand. Blake pulled Severus away as the time rip quickly got smaller as yelling and hissing started up on the other side. Severus followed him feeling pale and shaky. They closed the door to the greenhouse firmly, the man’s dying screams ringing in their ears.

Blake leaned back against the door and held his head in his hands.  Severus didn’t know what to do as silence fell around them again, with only the night-time animals and men's memories to keep them company. Severus understood now what Blake had been talking about, when he would talk about the Severus Snape that he had known.

“Um,” Severus started. “That was…”

“Yes.”

“On the night of…”

“Yes.”

“I was that much of an ass?”

“He was, yes.”

“How…”

Blake looked up at Severus, pale green meeting his. Severus could tell that other man was seeing something else as he looked through him. The look always gave him a shiver down his spine, knowing that the man was somewhere else in his mind and he worried that there might be a day that he wouldn't be able to draw Blake back from his memories. 

“Severus Snape killed Albus Dumbledore,” Blake said softly.

Severus reeled back in horror.

“Albus was dying,” Blake continued.

“The horcrux?”

Blake nodded.

“There was no Blake Sun to save him,” Blake said softly. “He poisoned himself to get to a second horcrux. He would have died within the month. Draco Malfoy had been tasked to kill Albus by the Dark Lord.”

“What!” Severus squeaked. “He's a child!”

“That did not matter to him,” Blake said calmly. “The ritual that they used to bring him back in my timeline was different, he wasn’t sane Severus.”

“Why did I…he kill Albus?”

Blake ran a hand over his head. 

“As far as I could work out.” Blake replied slowly, looking off into the distance. “He took an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy to finish Draco’s mission if the boy failed. Draco and myself sat down after the battle and before his trial and compared notes.”

“Trial?” Severus asked, his head spinning with the information.

“Um yeah,” Blake said. “He was marked as a death eater.”

“Draco?” Severus gasped.

Blake gave him a small smile.

“The Dark Lord of my time marked many children, something that is very different in this timeline.” Blake said softly. “This Dark Lord seems to be very careful with who he marks, even Charmling wasn’t marked.”

“What happened then?” Severus questioned.

“Severus Snape took over Hogwarts,” Blake said softly. “Hermione, Ron and myself had to go on the run, from both the Ministry and the Dark Lord. We had been tasked with finding the horcruxes with no idea about where they could be. There was a bounty on my head.”

“You were seventeen?” Severus asked softly.

“Yes, I was.” Blake confirmed and wrapped his arms around himself, his eyes distant.

Severus looked down at the man and couldn’t imagine the seventeen-year-old version of this man on the run from a powerful Dark Lord with just two other teenagers with him for support.

“Hermione was the one that saved us,” Blake said suddenly into the still air. “She had been ready the whole time, while Ron and I had just been thick. If it weren’t for her we would have died.”

Severus made a mental note to be nicer to the girl from now on, he had a feeling he didn’t give her enough credit.

“We managed to find all but the last two horcruxes,” Blake continued. “And headed back to the school. We snuck in via one of the secret tunnels in time for the final battle that would have been tonight.”

Severus looked around at the silent grounds and couldn't imagine what Blake seeing as he stood there silently. His arms wrapped around himself and his green eyes far away. Severus shivered at the haunted look in the man's eyes.

“This time is very different,” Blake said quietly. “We still hold the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. The Dark Lord has not gathered the support he had before.  We also have the support of the Council, which took a lot of people with creature blood away from the Dark Lord. He could not recruit in those circles due to the Council giving them protection. He will still attack this school.”

“How do you know?” Severus asked.

Blake flashed him a grim smile, that sent a shiver down Severus's back.

“That man has a thing about this school and Harry Potter is here,” Blake said darkly. “He will come.”

“Why did you not tell us?” Severus asked softly.

Blake looked at him sharply and pushed away from the door and stepped closer to the man until they were almost touching. He reached out and grabbed Severus’s hand as the man looked down at him.

“My memories,” Blake said softly. “Are not this time’s history. I have worked so hard to give my son a life as happy as I could make it. I have made deals and contracts with people that would never have seen eye to eye for many years. In my head, I hold hundreds of years of history, Severus.”

Severus felt a chill at the look in the man’s green eyes as he looked up at him.

“What happened back then,” Blake said looking away. “It feels like a dream, like something that happened to someone else. I was just a child with no understanding of what I was doing. About what impact my actions would have. What I do now, Severus, is rewriting what happened then.  Truth be told, I would rather just let go of those memories and focus on the now. In some ways I have. It’s moments like this that brings them back up again. Just nightmares and ghosts.”

Severus placed his hand on the other man’s cheek and turned his head back towards him. He leant down and kissed the man softly, deepening the kiss when the man opened his mouth under his.

“I don’t want those memories to divert my attention somewhere else,” Blake said softly, when they pulled back. “I can’t rely on those memories or someone could die. Or the Dark Lord won’t fall. So much has changed and it’s all because Blake Sun is alive in this time.”

“Don’t inflate your ego too much, love.” Severus purred in the man’s ear.

Blake stilled for a second before smacking his ass with a laugh.

“Ha!” Blake cried, with a smile. “Knew I could count on you, to bring me back to reality.”

Severus grinned and stood up taller, taking the man’s hand and pulling him away.

“Come on,” Severus said with a smile. “I have classes in the morning.”

Blake fell into step with him as they walked away from the place that would have been where he died but that was another time and place far away from them.

xXx

“Dracka!” Harry called.

The vampire turned with a grin as students moved around them. Harry held up the daylight pendent for the man. He'd wrapped the pendent in a soft cloth covering so that vampire wouldn't have to worry about burning himself, like he had last time.

“About bloody time!” Dracka snapped, moving forward.

Students sniggered at the use of language as Harry looped the cord around the vampire’s neck.

“This one should last two weeks,” Harry said. “You do know I have to use gold powder to make these things!”

“Do I have to start taking you out to dinner in repayment?” Dracka asked with a leer as a third-year girl giggled.

Harry laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

“I’ve heard that line before,” Harry said with a wink. “It can never end well, plus Severus wasn't impressed the last time we went out.”

Harry walked passed the vampire and headed down the hallway.

“Blake!” Dracka called out.

Harry turned back as a few students looked over at them.

“But I was going to take you out somewhere special!” Dracka called out down the hallway, to the amusement of the students around them. “Might even ask Severus along.”

“I’ll like to see you ask him,” Harry called back. “He was just saying the other day he could use some vampire blood in a potion he’s been working on.”

Giggles sounded around the hallway.

xXx

Harry adjusted his tie one last time as he looked in the mirror. He'd already spoken to Albus earlier that morning and everything was in place. Albus would see to his men and Harry would look after the castle with Dracka’s men and the Ministry workers as support. He would be in place to back up the Headmaster once Voldemort made an appearance. He'd already gone through every way into the castle he knew and had used Ry’s map as well as Sirius and Remus to make sure that they had covered every entrance.

Harry was sure that today would be the day as it was the Seventh-year graduation, so if Voldemort wanted to attack the castle to get to Ry. Today was it. He nervously untied his tie again as he ran the plans through his head. Simpson had gone to ground so if Voldemort attacked, which Harry was sure he was going to, this was their best chance to take the man out before Simpson got used to his power.

A lot hung on bringing Voldemort down and soon. He retied his tie as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He had let Albus and the Order keep tabs on Voldemort as he had focused on Simpson and he was happy that his attention hadn’t been split between the two men. Yes, the Dark Lord was powerful and held more power than Harry did, but he was more concerned with his son than facing Voldemort. Harry turned away from his reflection in the mirror and pulled on his long coat with a shrug to set it right, before picking up his cane and moving out of the room.

He stopped when he reached the front steps of the school and looked out at the grounds. A stage had already been placed on the grass with seats lined up before it as students milled around getting everything ready under Professor McGonagall’s watchful eye and sharp tongue.

A soft scuff on the stones behind him had him turning to see Ginny Weasley standing there. Harry’s eyes locked with the girl and Harry gave her a small smile.

“Ms Weasley,” Harry said softly. “How are you? Looking forward to seeing your brother graduate? And to seeing your parents?”

Ginny smiled shyly and moved forward to stand next to Harry. The girl’s red hair shone in the sun as they looked out over the grounds and she stood about the same height as Harry. She looked the same as Harry remembered but wasn’t as hardened and still seemed as shy as the first time he'd met her. She was a girl that the war with Voldemort hadn't hardened, unlike how his wife had been at her age.

“Can I sit with Ry?” The girl asked softly.

Harry looked over at her and she tilted her chin up, a movement he knew very well.

“You are welcome to sit with your parents,” Harry replied. “They should be arriving soon.”

“Ry said he starts the Auror program in August,” Ginny stated. “They wouldn’t let me start early.”

Harry stilled.

“That’s right,” Harry said carefully. “You still have one more year of schooling to go, Ms Weasley.”

“But they let some of other sixth years in!” Ginny said in a rush. “But not me and I applied and everything. I want to start with Ry and Ron."

“What’s one more year?” Harry said with a laugh as he clapped a hand to the girl’s shoulder. “Just think of all the extra spells you could learn and use against the boys.”

Ginny just gave him a look that Harry knew well and he smiled disarmingly at her, it was the same smile he would have given his wife when he'd done or said something stupid which had been often enough when he'd been married.

“Don’t worry, Ms Weasley.” Harry said softly. “You will be there kicking their butts in no time.”

Harry gave the girl a wink and she blushed before nodding shyly before running off. He looked after her fondly, his wife would have thumped him one and used a few choice words if he'd said that to her.

“What did you do?”

Harry turned to see Severus standing behind him with an odd look in his eyes and his arms crossed over his chest. Harry turned to lean on the stone barrier behind him and raised an eyebrow in question.

“To Ms Weasley?” Severus clarified, as he smoothly moved closer.

“She wasn’t happy about not starting the Auror Program with the boys,” Harry replied mildly. “Since a couple of the sixth years have been accepted in.”

Severus looked down his nose at Harry for a few minutes, his black eyes intense.

“What?” Harry asked as he fiddled with the handle of his cane.

“You didn’t have anything to do with that?” Severus asked silkily.

“With what?” Harry asked with a frown. “Ginny or the sixth years?”

“Both.”

“Ginny doesn’t have the marks or skill to get into the Auror Program early,” Harry said slowly. “And the sixth years that did, do have the marks and skill. Nothing to do with me.”

“I find that hard to believe, Mr Sun.” Severus drawled.

“What?” Harry drawled back. “Do you think I have time to change every little thing to the way I want it?”

“Well-"

“Do you think that I can know what will happen if I change something?” Harry cut in. “Or could really be bothered?”

Severus stood up a little taller as he looked down his nose at the shorter man.

“Ginny was never an Auror,” Harry said softly with a sigh. “And yet I am very sure she will be this time.”

Severus stepped closer until they were almost touching.

“Do you have everything in place?” Harry asked changing the conversation.

Severus’s dark eyes settled on him, saying more than words ever could and Harry sighed and looked away.

“As much as we can Blake,” Severus whispered.

Harry nodded and looked over at the stage and the rows of seats as McGonagall snapped at Ron and Ry as the seats they were moving suddenly smashed into each other with a loud crash.

“Good morning, boys.” Albus said softly as he moved closer and brought up a silencing ward around them.

Harry looked away from his son to focus on Albus.

“Good morning, Albus.”

“We are getting reports of Voldemort moving,” Albus said as he looked around the grounds.

“Towards here?” Severus asked.

“Both here and the Ministry,” Albus replied. “We are unsure, at this stage, which one he will attack.”

“It will be here,” Harry said, with conviction.

Albus nodded in agreement.

“Kingsley has the Aurors on alert,” Albus continued. “And the parents should start arriving soon for the graduation.”

Harry looked down at the stones at his feet.

“I’ll have Dracka move some of his men towards the Ministry, just in case. I'll give Dylan the heads up, so he can have some teams in place. I need Miller and his team here.” Harry replied. “We can’t leave the school, Albus. We have to make a stand here.”

“And if the Ministry falls?” Albus asked.

Harry tapped his hand against the stones behind him and glanced over at his son and his friends.

“That might be the price we pay,” Harry said softly.

Harry’s words hung between them.


	20. Chapter Thirty Six

Harry looked out over the students and parents from his seat next to Albus with Severus and Dracka next to him and Minerva and the other teachers on the other side of Albus as the Headmaster gave him a nod before getting to his feet. Harry focused back on the parents and looked them over. He could feel the dark curse of the dark mark from Lucius Malfoy and the blonde gave him a smirk from the crowd.

Harry opened his mind slightly to the magic around him and a slight haze came to his sight as he looked over the people in front of him. He couldn't look too far with the amount of magic around them and the spells that the parents had around them. He picked up the wards of the castle while the Headmaster spoke and sent a slight touch of magic along the links before pulling back.

A slight buzz in his pocket had him slipping one of Dracka's message stones out as he leaned forward in his chair to cover it as he looked down at the message on the surface of the stone.

 _'Sighted_ ,' Was written on the stone in a hand he knew. _'No word on Ministry_. _Your Squirts are giving them a little trouble._ '

 _'Pull back to the castle._ ' Harry sent back.

Harry slipped the stone back into his pocket. Voldemort and his followers had been spotted moving towards the school. Harry turned back to the crowd before him as the Headmaster finished up his speech and unrolled the scroll with the students' names on it when something caught Harry's attention and he tensed.

Harry was standing and slamming into the Headmaster as instincts honed from years of battle overtook him before the curse had even left the castor’s wand. He stepped back as the killing curse flashed by him missing by an inch as he pulled up a protection ward between the students and their parents and he looked around for the person that had sent the spell. Lucius Malfoy’s pale face gave him away in the crowd as the parents and students panicked and scattered, giving the man cover.

Harry held a hand out to the Headmaster as Severus and Dracka moved in on them. He helped pull the old man to his feet as the other teachers moved into the crowd.

“Holy fuck,” Dracka swore, his eyes large.

“Thank you, my boy.” Albus grinned, patting Harry’s shoulder.

“Albus you stay here,” Harry quickly ordered. “Severus and Dracka help round up the students-ugh!”

BOOM!

Harry dropped to his knees as the wards of the school took a heavy attack, sending a bolt of pain straight through his head. He fumbled with his wand and harshly sliced through his connection to the wards, making his head spin slightly.

“Blake!”

Harry pulled himself to his feet, his head pounded as he pushed Severus towards the students. Noticing the Headmaster had thrown up a protection ward when his had failed. He pulled two potions from his pocket and downed them both quickly as he assessed the situation.

“Get to the students!” Harry snapped at Severus and Dracka when they didn’t move.

“Dad!”

Harry’s head flicked around as his son ran towards him with his friends at his back.

“Get to the staging areas!” Harry ordered as they ran up to him.

His son looked unsure but then nodded and ran off with his friends and Draco falling in behind him. Severus and Dracka with the help of the other teachers moved towards the students and parents as Harry linked with everyone that held a portkey and activated the warning in them to call everyone to the school.

The wards flared over their head and the ground rumbled under their feet but they held. Harry could do nothing more for them, without a connection to the wards. He looked up as colours ran over the normally invisible barrier and knew only one person could attack the wards like that.

“That's the Dark Lord,” Harry said to the Headmaster. “He's attacking them directly. If we hadn’t reinforced and renewed them, then that first attack would have brought them down!”

“Will they hold?” Albus asked.

“No,” Harry said simply. “But the castle ones should. They are stronger since they link in with the stones as well as the ground and don't have to cover as much area. The goblins should be able to link in with them and pool their power. The wards on the grounds are a different story.”

Harry turned away from the Headmaster and pulled his dark wand. He whispered a spell under his breath as he focused his mind before releasing his dark magic in a rush and a huge dragon made of black mist appeared in front of them. It gave a roar, shaking the glass in the windows of the castle and making students and parents gasp, before it turned its head towards where the Dark Lord was attacking the wards. Harry poured the dark magic into the beast until its form become solid and dark magic dripped from its scales and burned the grass with each step it took. He gently placed an image in the its head as he held the connection to the dragon in his mind. The wards rang out at the use of so much dark magic.

“I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” Albus muttered as he rubbed his temple.

“Oops, sorry.” Harry said with a grin. “I should have warned you first, right?”

“I’m just happy you’re on our side, Blake” Albus replied, his blue eyes twinkling.

“Ha!” Harry laughed, watching as the last of the students were ushered into the castle.

His large dragon ambled towards the wards with a fleeing Lucius Malfoy running ahead of it as it spat black mist towards the death eater. He smirked at the sight. He could feel the first of his portkeys coming into the school and broke that link in his mind. The wards flared above their heads again and Harry could see cracks appearing in the dome.

“We haven’t got long.” Harry said. “Albus you know what you're doing, keep your walkie close, just in case. I’ll move back to the castle with the vampires and my men. Good luck Headmaster. I’ll be there to support you when the Dark Lord moves in.”

The Headmaster nodded and moved forward as his men fell in around him to move into place and set up defences. Harry could feel his link to the dragon and lightly brushed against Severus and Ry’s connections. Ry was in place and Severus was moving back towards him with Miller and his team.

“Okay,” Harry called, staying on the stage and calling out to the men and woman around him. “I want you back at the castle! The wards of the castle should hold, but if they fail, you are not to let anyone in unless they give the passcode! Do not curse the vampires, understand?”

“Will the wards on the grounds hold?” Someone from the crowd yelled.

“No,” Harry replied as Severus came to stand beside him. “They will fall, be ready. Now move!”

Harry turned to Severus, the man looked pale but his black eyes shone, he was ready.

BOOM!

Flashes of lightening ran along the wards and the cracks started to widen as the ministry workers and Aurors ran back towards the castle with Miller barking orders to get them into place, leaving Harry and Severus free for now. Harry looked everything over, so far everything was going to plan but Harry knew from experience how quickly plans could unravel.

“Come on,” Harry whispered to Severus and grabbed his arm.

They moved back towards the front of the castle, Harry could see his dragon pacing back and forth in front of where the Dark Lord and his supporters stood. The Order had set up camp nearby and the Headmaster had pulled up a ward in front of them like a wall, that could only be seen through from their side, as he moved people into place. The wall would give them the element of surprise but that would only last so long. The ward would stop most spells but not the killing curse as Albus had people building up physical barriers to stop them from being surrounded but still allowing them a way to retreat. Following the plan to the tee.

Harry looked everything over as people moved into place and knew that Dracka and his men would be working on the other side of the castle to lock it down. Miller's voice washed over them as he ordered people into place and Harry caught his eyes and gave him a signal.  Miller ordered groups with firearms forward to support Albus, the old man wouldn't like it, but if it saved lives Harry didn't much care if Albus didn't like his methods. Harry knew that Voldemort wouldn't enter the field until his lesser supporters had worn down their forces.

Dracka suddenly appeared next to them, grinning with his red eyes shining, as the pendent around his neck glowed softly. Harry shivered slightly at the look in the other man's eyes. He was sure that Dracka and the other vampires would be well fed by the end of the battle.

“All in place,” Dracka reported. “I have my men spread throughout the school and on the back side, so that we can’t be attacked from there. They know to move back towards the castle if they are pushed too hard. Nice dragon by the way.”

“Thanks,” Harry replied dryly.

“There's no word from the Ministry about an attack there,” Dracka said as he looked around. “I still have men there with the Aurors, just in case. They will send word if anything changes. The Squirts were cursing trouble for the Dark Lord but they have scattered after they started using the killing curse."

The dragon suddenly lifted its head up and roared, rattling the windows nearby and shaking the ground under their feet as it ripped its claws into the earth. Swinging its head towards the Dark Lord as he attacked the wards, blowing out dark mists before it. Harry gently picked up the link with the beast and sent a little magic along the line and it roared again.

“That’s the thing with creatures made from dark magic,” Harry muttered. “They tend to create a personality of their own.”

“It won’t turn on us will it?” An Auror whispered.

“Not unless you have a dark mark on your arm,” Harry smirked.

“You linked it to the dark mark?” Dracka laughed.

“Well,” Harry said softly. “I couldn’t link it to dark magic, now could I?”

Severus subconsciously rubbed his left arm, even if the dark mark had faded a long time ago. Harry bumped his shoulder against his with a grin as he held the link with the dragon and waited.

“Okay everyone!” Harry called out. “The wards are going to fall soon. You have your orders! Hold!”

BOOM CRACK!

The wards fell.

 

Harry instantly felt an anti-apparation, portkey and anti-broom wards flare to life in a dome over the castle grounds as Bill and the goblins poured their magic into the wards forcing Voldemort and his followers to attack on foot. The wards wouldn't block them from entering, that wasn't the point, they were hoping that Voldemort wouldn't spend the time in pulling them down before attacking. Harry picked up the forms of the death eaters moving forward and smirked before he closed his eyes and linked in with his dragon, trusting Severus to have his back.

Harry braced himself as he cast his mind out.  His dragon reared getting air under its wings as it took to the sky. Harry flying with it as death eaters flooded forward. The dragon turned, heading towards the men, seeing its targets as it let loose with its deadly black fire. People screamed as the fire landed on them burning like acid as spells struck its flanks.

The dragon screamed and pumped its wings to get higher as it turned its head, looking around the field before its master called it further out towards something in the distance. There were large men with clubs standing at the back of the smaller people and its master turned him towards them. The dragon roared and pumped its wings before flying low and opening its mouth, black fire spilling out and the large men were screaming and swinging their clubs.

The dragon turned to the side as smaller people threw lights at him, stinging into his sides. He climbed higher, winging over the castle and dived for the large men again. He landed with a thud on all fours and his head forward as he spewed black fire at the large men, they fell to his fire and he reared onto his back legs with his wings spread wide as he roared. Spells hit his back and sides and he screamed as his form started to unravel, he threw the last of his fire at the men around him until he ran out of form and was soaked back into the earth with one last roar.

Harry stumbled forward as his dragon puffed into mist and Severus grabbed his shoulder as he let the connection and magic go.

“Thanks,” Harry muttered.

“You were lost for a second,” Severus muttered.

“They had giants,” Harry smirked.

“Had?” Dracka asked beside them.

“Not anymore,” Harry said darkly as the last of the dragon’s roar rolled over them.

A few Aurors around them shifted nervously but Harry ignored them as he watched the battle closely. His trained eye picking out the details that others could miss. The Order and the Aurors where holding against the death eaters as Dumbledore moved them into place. Following the plan so far.

“My men are being flanked on the South,” Dracka said looking down at the message stone. "They are taking heavy fire."

“Auror teams five through twelve,” Harry called to the men around him. “South side support. Help the vampires."

Under a half of the men around Harry set out at a run as Harry watched the Headmaster carefully making sure he wouldn't become over run. The Dark Lord hadn’t moved forward yet but Harry could feel the dark magic from the man and it was building as his battle trained eyes kept an eye on the Headmaster and his men. Voldemort was planning an attack from the back lines and from the amount of dark magic he was gathering it wasn't going to be pretty.

“Fuck,” Harry swore suddenly and pulled his walkie talkie from his belt. “Retreat! Dracka hold.”

Harry stepped forward until he stood right on the edge of the steps, leading down out of the castle. It put him in a bad position as he stood in the open but he needed the space to work.

“Everyone move back,” Harry called behind him.

The Headmaster was ordering a retreat and the Order and Aurors were falling back as the Headmaster held the protection ward in place to give them cover.

“Headmaster,” Harry said into the walkie. “When I say duck, hit the deck. Call the order.”

Harry slipped out of his shoes and glanced over his shoulder at the men gathered behind him. Severus, Dracka and Miller at the front of the group and keeping a sharp eye out. He locked eyes with Severus briefly.

“Strike team three,” Harry called. “Robbie, I want one of those rocket launchers ready to go in five. Watch my back.”

“Yes, sir!”

Harry turned back to the battle as death eaters pushed forward as the Order moved back. The Headmaster held the wall as he stepped back slowly from the advancing force and Harry frowned when he noticed they were pushing the group to the left slightly but since it was still towards the school and they hadn't blocked them off, he chalked it up to just the way they were moving. He had a bigger problem to deal with than how Albus's force was retreating.

Harry slipped his cherry wand out of his pocket and slowly built up his magic, sending it into the ground at his feet, the wand humming in his hand as he pushed the magic through it and he hoped that it wouldn’t shatter on him. He would be putting it to the test today.

He felt the stones under his feet and the people gathered behind him as he sent his magic running along the ground towards the Order and the Headmaster, when he reached the Headmaster’s spell he stopped. He let his magic pool there as he felt the dark magic building further out towards the forest. The Dark Lord was getting ready to make a move.

Harry crouched down and placed the hand holding the cherry wand on the stones at the top of the stairs as he watched the field before him. He slowly added light magic to the mix and waited. The Dark Lord appeared near the tree line, Harry kept pouring his magic down into the ground. His head pounded slightly from the magic as he worked. His other hand holding the walkie tightly as he twisted the magic the way he wanted and kept an eye on what Voldemort was doing as he whispered the spells he wanted under his breath.

“Headmaster, hold.” Harry ordered softly.

The Dark Lord casually walked forward, his inner circle around him as the dark magic build up his magic for his spell as Harry pooled his magic slowly into the ground, keeping it deep enough not to be picked up and using the Headmaster's barrier spell as cover. This move all came down to the element of surprise against a man that had more power than Harry did.

“Drop the ward.” Harry panted, his mind fully focused on the magic, Voldemort and Albus.

Harry took up the spell as the Headmaster dropped it, seamlessly transferring the magic to him. He gritted his teeth as he focused all his attention on the spell and the magic that he was working with. This was the most dangerous part for Harry, he would not be able to defend himself if he was attacked, wouldn't even know he was in danger. His trust was completely in the people behind him. Voldemort moved forward with confidence and arrogance in every line of his body and Harry waited.

“Retreat slowly, your men are halfway back. I need you to move but don’t run. Keep your wand up.” Harry ordered.

The Dark Lord’s chilling laughter rolled over the battle and Harry shivered as he held his magic in place and waited. He could feel the strain as his magic pooled before the wall that he held in place. Voldemort stopped before the barrier and laid a hand on it. Harry kept the barrier up as he kept an eye on where everyone was as he kept building the magic up in the ground, waiting. His wand was red hot in his hand now and humming slightly but was holding as he held it trapped between his hand and the stones before him.

“You think this will hold me back!” The Dark Lord yelled.

The Headmaster was halfway back to the castle and Harry smirked. Just as the Dark Lord released his dark magic. Harry flared his, springing his trap.

“DUCK!”

BOOM!

The Headmaster dropped to the ground as the dark and light magic clashed and flared out making everyone but Harry turn away as the Dark Lord screamed. Harry's magic attacking in force as he released it. His magic flaring out and overcoming the spell Voldemort had used. The death eaters were flung aside as that magic smashed into them, tossed aside like dolls as Voldemort tried to combat the magic Harry had released.

Harry smirked as Voldemort was pushed back as he pushed himself to his feet. The magic still flaring out with a whooshing sound as it pushed out from the place that Harry had released it, passing over the heads of the Headmaster and any of the Order or Aurors still close enough, while taking out anyone that had been standing. By the time it reached Harry it was just a soft breeze.

“Run! Robbie left side flank!” Harry ordered.

The rocket launcher set off with an eerie whine as it raced across the ground and hit the ground on the left side of the Dark Lord, throwing up dirt into the air and making the man flinch back. Covering the Headmaster as he ran, suddenly the man stopped and knelt down.

“Run!” Harry yelled into the walkie.

“Protection circle,” Albus replied. “A very strong one, someone has laid a gold wire.”

Harry swore and swung around to Severus.

“We'll get you out!” Harry barked into the walkie before placing it back on his belt.

Understanding why Voldemort's men had been pushing the Order in that direction. It looked like Harry wasn't the only one that could set a trap and he cursed again for not checking for that kind of magic. He was sure that Malfoy would have set it up. He pulled the black cube form his pocket and threw it to Severus who caught it easily.

“Albus is stuck in a protection circle. Malfoy must have planted it.” Harry explained. "You'll need to bring it down, I'll buy you time."

Severus paled as he noticed how the man was stuck out in the open, but at least the protection charm gave him protection at the same time that it kept him trapped until it was brought down.

“I’m moving forward.” Harry said, taking command. “Dracka, strike team three and Auror teams one through four cover me. Severus when you get the chance. Get to Albus. All other teams, hold here. Miller…” Harry looked at the man, their eyes locking before adding, "You have your orders."

Miller gave him a sharp nod in agreement, he would do what he had to. Harry moved forward with the teams as he held his cherry wand in his left and his sword in his right. He moved to the right of Albus, putting himself between the man and Voldemort. The Headmaster was about twenty meters from where Harry stood.

“Dracka,” Harry snapped. “I want that snake dead! Teams take your commands from Severus or Dracka and fall back slightly. They are taking over command. Miller back them up.”

Miller and Harry locked eyes briefly, they both knew the price they may have to pay. Miller and his team would back whatever Severus and Dracka had planned.

Harry could spy the Dark Lord’s snake moving towards the Headmaster and he sent a light spell towards the beast. The snake reared as the spell hit the ground, swinging her head in Harry’s direction.

 _“Over here, you piece of shit!”_ Harry hissed loudly in Parseltongue. “ _You think your Master will protect you!”_

Aurors shivered around him at the hissing as Nagini turned towards Harry and the Dark Lord paused turning towards him as well. He had their attention and he smirked. Harry held his hand up to stop his teams and moved forward alone. He needed to distract the man for as long as he could to give Severus and Dracka time.

 _“Another of the house of Slytherin!”_ The Dark Lord hissed in Parselltongue.

 _“Did you think you were alone?”_ Harry said with a smirk. “ _You think you are the only person to swing dark magic and talk to snakes?”_

Harry moved closer to Voldemort and hopped that Severus was moving towards the Headmaster and Dracka was in place to take out the snake. Harry stopped moving leaving a good space between him and the Dark Lord.

They stood alone and took a good look at each other.

“ _Blake Sun_ ,” Voldemort hissed his red eyes flashing.

“ _Dark Lord Voldemort, we meet again_.” Harry smirked back.

Harry smirked wider as he noticed the rips and cuts in the Dark Lord’s clothing and the large gash along the side of his head. He'd taken a good hit from Harry’s spell.

“You are not welcome on this ground,” Harry said softly.

Harry planted both his feet on the ground firmly as he felt the grass through his toes and the castle woke up behind him at his words.

“I am the descendant of Salazar Slytherin!” Voldemort yelled and Harry knew he'd hit a sore spot. “I have a right!”

Harry smirked as he looked the other man over, the man's eyes flashing in rage. The angrier he could get him, the better for Harry, and the higher the chance he would make a mistake and Harry would need that as he felt the man's dark magic brushing him.

“I am the descendant of Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor,” Harry smirked. “Who has more of a right?”

Voldemort's eyes widened at those words before narrowing.

 _“Avada Kadava!”_ Voldemort hissed, his wand raised.

The green spell headed straight for Harry and he grinned. He grabbed the spell, tangling his dark magic around the green beam, and with a smirk twirled on the spot, holding the spell as he turned it back towards the Dark Lord.

Voldemort yelped and ducked out of the way in shock. Everything went silent as people stood staring and Harry gave the man a wild grin as his magic crackled along his skin and he felt the dark magic around them pulsing like a heartbeat. Harry may not have the power levels that the man before him but he'd shown that he had skills that the Dark Lord didn't.

Voldemort straightened up slowly, his eyes focused on Harry and he wasn't smiling anymore as Harry stared back with his wand held loosely in his hand. He never liked going head to head with a Dark Lord and yet he seemed to always find himself in that position.

“Dracka, snake!” Harry ordered as he threw out his light magic at the Dark Lord, making the first move.

Harry ignored everything around him but the Dark Lord as he jumped back from the fire spell the man sent towards him, turning the flames away as he channelled dark magic into the form of a lion that lunged towards the other man. Dark magic spun around them as they exchanged spells, getting a feel for the other. Harry dropped to the ground as a bolt of dark magic passed over his head.

He grinned as the hallows burned in his blood and he coated his skin with magic, adding strength to his muscles, as he rolled to his feet, jumping forward with his sword. He was pushed back with a wave of dark magic as he brought a shield up before him and rolled to the side. His lion screamed in pain as the Dark Lord threw a green spell at the beast.

Harry got his feet under him again and they both glanced over as dark magic puffed into the air as Miller drove his silver sword deeply into the head of the Dark Lord’s snake as he held a shield of pure power before him to protect him from the backlash from the horcrux. Harry frowned, where were Dracka and Severus?

Voldemort yelled out in rage and Harry quickly moved to the side but that moment of inattention cost him as a blasting spell hit him in the side and he was flung back a few meters. He tried to roll as he hit and was only half successful as he hit the ground hard.

He gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs as he tried to get to his feet, head still spinning well after he'd stopped moving. If it weren't for the dark magic around him and his dragon hide vest under his shirt, he was sure that hit would have taken him out of the fighting. He staggered as he tried to get his balance and he was sure that he had broken some ribs as the Dark Lord's chilling laughter rolled over him and he shook his head slightly as his vision blurred and he was sure he'd hit his head in the fall.

“Dad!”

Harry’s heart froze as Ry ran towards him and the Dark Lord’s face twisted up in a smirk as he flared a barrier between Harry and Ry. Harry quickly brought his wand up but knew he wouldn't be able to break through the barrier quick enough.

“Potter, now!” Severus yelled from somewhere behind him.

Ry slid to a stop and everything stilled as the Dark Lord raised his wand.  The Headmaster was still trapped in the protection circle as Harry pulled his magic together and he managed to plant his feet firmly on the ground. He quickly sent a bolt of pure power towards the barrier in front of him. The spell smashed into it and it flared before falling, but it was too little, too late. Harry gathered his magic again as his head spun and he tried to focus.

Ry just stood there staring at the Dark Lord not even raising his wand and Harry's heart dropped as coldness swept through his body. What was the boy doing! He had skills, why was he standing there!

_“Avada Kadava!”_

“No!”

Harry yelled out as the sickly green light blazed across the grounds of Hogwarts and smashed into the form of Harry Potter. The boy was bathed in green light briefly before dropping limp where he stood as the Dark Lord’s laughter chilled Harry to the bone.

Harry's spell unravelled around him, his eyes went wide in shock as his vision snapped into focus on the still body of his son.

“No.” Harry whispered, feeling numb as his magic lashed out around him.

His wand and sword falling from numb fingers as he stared in horror at his son’s limp body on the ground in a crumpled heap. With a roar of rage Harry went to rush forward but Severus grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back. Harry lashed out and Severus grunted as Harry's fist connected with his side and his grip slipped enough for Harry to get one step forward, before arms like steel wrapped around him and Dracka was there, red eyes blazing. The vampire hauled him back as Harry struggled.

“Ry!” Harry sobbed, fighting against the vampire without success as his dark magic swirled around him.

“Severus!” Dracka hissed.

“Do it,” Severus gasped as he held his ribs.

Dracka darted his head forward and plunged his fangs into Harry’s neck, making the shorter man cry out in pain as the vampire sucked in his dark magic and blood. Harry fought against the man but only succeeded in ripping the wound wider as the dark magic drained off him but Harry didn’t care. His eyes were locked on the form of his son as the cold laughter of Voldemort rolled over them.

Dracka suddenly pulled back with a gasp and let Harry slip limply to his knees on the ground as Severus rushed in with a bandage and potion in hand, clapping it over the wound to stop the bleeding. Harry felt drained of dark magic and a white mist swirled around his sight. Severus and Dracka the only things keeping him from falling completely to the ground as his body tried to recover from the shock.

“Ry,” Harry sobbed again.

“Sh, Blake.” Severus whispered in his ear. “This is not over yet.”

Harry just stared at his son, everything else around him coming second. He'd failed and now the boy was dead. He didn’t have the protection of the hallows that Harry had had in his time.

Suddenly Dracka shook him hard and he felt the man behind him pulling him back against his legs, hands on either side of his neck. Using one hand to keep the bandage in place. Harry looked up, green eyes too wide and into the dark eyes of the vampire. Where was Severus?

Harry tried to struggle to his feet as his eyes darted around wildly, looking for his lover. Dracka clamped down harder on his shoulders keeping him on the ground.

“Severus!” Dracka hissed.

Suddenly Severus was before them and Harry settled as he looked up at his lover. Severus knelt down in front of Harry and grabbed his face in his hands making him look into his eyes.

“Make a connection with Potter!” Severus hissed at him.

“He’s dead!” Harry whispered.

Severus shook him hard.

“Focus, Blake!” Severus snapped harshly. "Connect with Ry!"

Harry looked up at him and their eyes locked and Severus ripped into his mind, the connection between the two men making it easier for the other man to pass through his barriers.

 _‘We have been working with Potter to contain the part of his mind that is the horcrux,_ ’ Severus whispered into his mind. _‘He's not dead, make the connection that you two have and use it against the Dark Lord! Trust us.’_

Harry looked up at Severus and whimpered making Dracka tighten his hold on his shoulders.

“Come now, my snake!” A chilling voice floated over the battle around them.

 _‘Do it now!_ ’ Severus hissed in his mind before breaking the connection with him.

Harry would have sagged forward if it weren’t for Dracka’s grip. Severus looked down at him his eyes intense before he stood.

“Keep him focused and safe,” Severus said to Dracka. "If you don't, I'll hunt you down."

“Good luck,” Dracka muttered at him.

“Come now, come join me! Take your rightful place!”

Harry shivered and looked up as Voldemort stepped towards them and moaned as Severus walked forward. Dracka knelt behind him with one of his knees between Harry’s legs and a hand on the side of his throat, holding the bandage in place, while the other wrapped around his arms and chest. Making it seem like he held the man as a prisoner.

“He's giving you time,” Dracka whispered into his ear. “Focus on your son and make the connection. It's the only thing that will save him.”

Harry shivered and tried to grab his magic but it wasn’t there. Dracka had drained the magic off earlier. Harry panicked slightly until Dracka shook him hard, which made him focus with a winch at the pain. He reached into his core and found his light magic and then it dawned on him what Severus and Dracka had done.

Harry came back to himself with a start when he heard Severus cry out. The man was on his knees under the Crucio curse.  Harry whipped out with his light magic and shattered the spell.

“Focus, you idiot!” Dracka snapped.

Harry snarled and flared out with his light magic. Dracka hissed and fell back from Harry leaving the man kneeling alone. Harry dived into his core and picked up his connection to his son, his younger self, so much still a part of him. He grabbed a hold of it, his skin burning with silver light, and then suddenly everything stopped.

 

Time froze.

 

Harry stood without a problem, his body that of a young man.  He looked down at his hands in wonder. Not one scar covered his arms except for the one in the crook of his elbow that Wormtail had given him to bring Voldemort back to life. He was back in the body he’d had when he was seventeen. The body he’d had when he'd killed the Dark Lord.

Something slipped down his nose and reached up and touched on a pair of glasses. He stared at the thick black rimmed glasses in shock as he looked around with slightly blurry vision before slipping the glasses onto his nose and pushing them up. He looked down at his ripped jeans and the dirt on his clothes. Everything was the same as when he'd first stepped into this place. It was like a bubble of contained time, one moment captured like a video clip, and now that he was looking around he could see the strands of time magic twisting through the mists and he shivered. They could get lost in this place.

He looked around him with new eyes as the memories rolled over him, like they had happened yesterday.  He had stood on this platform waiting for a train as he spoke to the spirit of Albus Dumbledore as a part of Voldemort's soul cowered away under a bench seat and the connection between them was ripped away, as well as his life, by the killing curse. He would have been lost to this place if it hadn't been for Albus Dumbledore and his memory of the man kept alive in Harry's mind. He stood up straighter, he knew what he had to do now.

“Ry,” Harry whispered, looking around.

He turned and walked down the platform.  This was the place in between, his son just had to be here! He held onto that thought as an image of his son came to his mind. He held the memories of his son at the front of his mind, his steps making no sound as he walked.

xXx

Ry was lost.

He remembered the battle, his father screaming, the green light, and then he was here. He wasn’t sure where here was, it looked like a train station but there were just rolling mists around him and no one else except for a dark creature that was huddled under a bench seat a couple of metres further down the platform. He didn’t look too hard at the thing, he thought it had arms and legs but he wasn’t sure if was just a mass of darkness and he just imagined it having a form.

Ry took a seat on one of the benches and pulled his knees up as he let his chin rest on them as the mists swirled around him.  He thought he could hear voices and shouting but he wasn’t sure and as soon as he focused on them they would blow away leaving him surrounded in silence again.

He was so lost.

“Harry?”

Ry looked up at the soft voice to see a boy moving towards him down the platform. He was short with shaggy black hair and big glasses that took up most of his face. He walked with confidence as he came closer, his stride graceful and full of purpose. The boy looked to be around Ry’s age but was very skinny, just skin and bones really.  His green eyes focused on him as he came closer and Ry could see the lightning bolt scar on the boy’s forehead making him gasp as his eyes widened.

“Ry?” The boy asked and stood calmly with an easy smile on his face.

Ry stood and looked the boy over with a frown.  Ry was a good head and a half taller than the other boy and he probably weighted a lot more as wel. His clothes where dirty and slightly torn as if he'd been in a fight and Ry frowned. If this image was supposed to be Ry it was a poor copy. Then it clicked in his head as their green eyes locked and the boy gave him a wink.

“Dad?” Ry gasped.

“That's me.” The boy replied, his face lighting up and then Ry could see his father in the green eyes and the easy grin.

Ry fell into his father’s arms and felt thin arms wrap around him, so unlike his father’s normally strong embrace. The feeling was jarring but he was just so relieved as he held his father tightly.

“Where are we?” Ry asked, pulling back.

“The time in between,” His father said, looking around the station. “You were hit by the killing curse, Ry.”

“Then that thing must be the part of Voldemort’s soul,” Ry said pointing back down the station to the dark creature. "The horcrux."

“Yes,” His father said softly. “We need to go back.”

“How do we do that?” Ry asked.

His father looked around the station, it was strange to see his father the way he was now. He may look like a teenager, but he had power in his eyes. A power that Ry was sure that the Harry Potter, that his father had been, had always had. Something that Ry himself found lacking as he watched the other man.

“Is this the way you looked when you killed Voldemort?” Ry blurted out.

“Ha!” His father laughed and ruffled Ry’s hair. “Yes, I was a skinny little thing.”

Ry grinned looking the other man over in amazement. He couldn't imagine the boy before him standing up to Voldemort and yet he could feel his father's magic as he stood there. It was disconcerting to say the least as he looked at his father and could pick out the differences between them more easily. He frowned, they looked to be the same age and yet different. They were the same person and yet not, as his father's eyes locked with his. Old eyes in a young face.

“You don’t look like me?” Ry blurted out.

“No,” His father replied with an easy smile. “I had a very different life to yours, Ry.”

Ry looked down at his feet. His father reached out and grabbed his shoulder in a tight grip.

“I’m happy with the way you have turned out, Harry.” His father whispered. “I wouldn’t have wished my life on anyone. We are two different people but are connected the same.”

“Through Voldemort?”

“Through our birth,” His father corrected softly. “We were born the same person, we are both the son of Lily and James Potter. We just took different paths after that. Dark Lord Voldemort came later to bind us together.”

“You said his name?” Ry gasped.

His father laughed and opened his arms.

“He can’t hurt us here.”

“What about the part of his soul?” Ry asked.

“Vile thing,” His father said, glaring at the creature. “It was never meant to taint us.”

“Us?”

“Yes, Ry. Us.” His father said, his eyes burning green. “Remember that when we go back. You need to kill Voldemort, we need to finish this.”

“I don’t know how?”

“I will guild you,” His father smiled. “I will give you as much power and knowledge as I can, but you need to finish this. You are skilled enough for this, Ry. Trust yourself.”

Ry nodded, a hardness in his eyes as he reached out a hand to his father. Both Potters locked eyes and his father gave him a soft smile.

“Come on, Harry.”

Blake Sun grabbed his son’s hand and pulled.


	21. Chapter Thirty Seven

Severus was panicking but he was keeping it well hidden, deep down inside. He had to get that cube of Blake’s to the Headmaster so he could bring down the protection charm around the man, but one thing stood in his way.

“I knew you would always come back, my snake!” Voldemort laughed.

“Of course, my lord,” Severus said softly as he knelt on one knee before the man.

He turned sightly to see Blake still kneeling on the ground. He had gone silent and still after breaking through the pain curse. Dracka stood close by keeping anyone from attacking him and Severus just prayed that Blake was getting through to Potter. Everything hinged on that as he bowed his head in front of the Dark Lord and held back a shiver.

The Aurors with Miller and his team kept the death eaters busy and away from them, as they had been ordered to do, but were keeping an eye on what Severus and Voldemort were doing. He had no doubt, in his mind, that they were thinking that he'd changed sides, but they would follow the orders Blake had given them since he'd passed over command to Dracka and Severus. Miller would make sure of it and Severus couldn't be more thankful for Blake setting that up.

“You have even betrayed your lover!” Voldemort cried. “Look at him!”

“I got what I needed from him, my lord” Severus replied, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

“You even brought the vampire to my side!”

“Severus!” The Headmaster yelled, horror in his eyes.

Voldemort turned to the old man and laughed. That was the opening that Severus needed and he took it. He jumped to his feet as he threw the cube at the Headmaster using a little magic to keep it straight and true.

“What is this?” Voldemort hissed.

“Pay back,” Severus hissed and ducked back towards Dracka and Blake.

The cube soared into the air and as it hit the barrier around the Headmaster.

It shattered into a million pieces.

The Dark Lord’s high-pitched laughter rang out over the sounds of fighting.

“That was your pay back!?” The man yelled with a chilling laugh.

“Yes.” A soft voice called out.

The Dark lord twisted around and gasped as Ry stepped forward, white light blazing around him.

“No!” Voldemort yelled. “I killed you!”

The boy’s face twisted up and the smile he gave the Dark Lord had Severus shivering as he ran back towards Blake.

“And he isn’t alone,” The Headmaster stated as he stepped out of his prison, the black cube held in his hand.

“What! No!” Voldemort yelled, looking between Albus and Potter.

Ry stepped forward to stand next to the Headmaster and a silver sword appeared in his hand, Blake’s silver sword, as the glow dimmed down and faded away from his skin.

“Severus!”

Severus’s head snapped around to Dracka. Blake was limp in his arms and Severus’s heart dropped to his feet.

“Oh god,” Severus gasped. “Blake!”

Flashes of spells passing over his head as he ducked and ran. He fell to his knees next to his lover, his hand shaking when he grabbed the man’s shoulder. Blake was limp, his green eyes half closed and he felt cold to the touch.

“Is this meant to be happening?” Dracka hissed. “He can’t die! He holds the hallows!”

Severus quickly looked over his shoulder at Ry fighting the Dark Lord with the silver sword flicking out at Voldemort, wielding it like he'd been born with it in his hand, while the Headmaster distracted the other man with spell after spell.

“He’s channelling his magic into Potter,” Severus gasped. “The boy doesn’t have that much skill.”

“But I drained off his dark magic,” Dracka said and horror started to settle between the two men. “The hallows…did I take too much?”

If they hadn’t drawn off the dark magic in Blake, then he wouldn’t have been able to connect to Potter, and yet it was the dark magic that fed the hallows. They both realised at the same time the possibility that Blake Sun could die today and they felt a chill run through them.

“No,” Severus gasped. “Can you push the magic back?”

Dracka shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way!”

“Then he has to pull back from Potter!”

Both men looked up as the ground shook, Ry was holding his hand out to the side as the ground ripped in two separating the Headmaster, Voldemort and Ry from any help. They both realised that without Blake’s power and skill they could fail and everything would be for nothing.

Blake moaned suddenly, startling the two men, the man was sweating and shaking his head slightly.

“Blake!” Severus cried. “Can you pull back your magic?”

“No,” Blake gasped painfully. “Holding connection. Can't leave him.”

Ry turned the silver blade and hit the Dark Lord deeply in the leg as the Headmaster shot a spell out. The man stumbled but brought his wand to bear and Ry ducked back as a part of the earth at his feet pulled up to block the spell Voldemort had cast. He could feel his father guiding him as power flooded into his body as he moved. Everything his father had taught him over the years coming back to him as flicked his wand towards Voldemort. Working as a team with his father as they used what they had between them to push Voldemort back.

“He’s pulling too much,” Blake gasped, his hands digging into the earth. “Doesn’t understand.”

“Blake,” Severus hissed. “Pull back!”

Severus shook Blake's shoulder hard but he knew the man couldn't hear him as he mumbled under his breath. Too tangle up in the magic to realise what it was doing to him. Severus locked eyes with Dracka as Miller and the Aurors kept anyone that would interfere back.

Ry twisted out of the way of the Dark Lord’s spell and cast a spell his father supplied back at him as they moved as a team. Working together seamlessly as the lessons his father had taught him over the years came to the front of his mind. The Dark Lord howled as his spell cut straight into him, cutting him to the bone. He could feel his father’s voice whispering in the back of his mind, the connection between them strong as they moved as one.

Harry moaned as pain ripped through him, his son was drawing on his magic but didn’t know how to do it correctly. It had been the one thing that he hadn't been able to teach him, the right way to draw on light magic. Ry was pulling too much, too fast, setting his skin on fire. He tried to slow it down but Ry kept pulling and he couldn’t break the connection without severing the power and skill. He couldn’t leave his son vulnerable.

Albus cast a quick spell at Voldemort as Ry’s spell sliced into the man. He had never seen the boy move like he was now. It was like he was looking at a different person, one that was battle worn and knew how to use the skills he had but the boy was putting too much magic into the spells and he knew something had to give as he increased his attacks on Voldemort. They had to end this and quickly.

Voldemort yelled as the boy inflicted another score with that blade of his, the silver biting deeply, not only into his skin, but into his magic as well. He couldn’t let the Potter brat win. He is Dark Lord Voldemort!  He did not bow to children!

Dracka could do nothing but hold Blake and watch with large black eyes at the fight between three powerful wizards while Severus tried to keep Blake focused. He knew the man in his hands was suppling the skill and power to help his son but watching the boy he was struck speechless.

The Headmaster sent a lash of fire at the Dark Lord and Voldemort skipped out of the way but he was a touch too slow and the Potter brat’s sword sliced right into his chest. The silver cutting through his magic, skin and heart.

Everything stopped.

Voldemort looked down at the sword in his chest then slowly looked up at the blazing green eyes of the child in front of him in shock. How could a child beat him!

“You could never beat us!” The child snarled. “ _Avada Kedavra_.”

It was at that moment that Voldemort realised that he hadn’t just been fighting a child as the green light consumed him, taking what little magic he had for his life had already fled.

xXx

Harry broke the connection quickly with his son and moaned in pain. He felt hands on him and a hard body at his back. His neck was on fire and his bones felt like they had been turned to ash by the magic burning through him. What he'd done was not supposed to happen. He felt every cut, scrape and bruise on his body and, oh boy, did he feel his age. Suddenly his stomach rolled and he was rolling to the side and throwing up as that strong arm held him around his chest.

“Sh,” Severus said softly, rubbing his back. “It’s okay.”

Harry wasn’t so sure as the nausea rolled through him and he kept throwing up until all that came up was blood and bile. Something was very wrong.

“Is there anything we can do, Severus?” He heard Dracka ask.

Harry knew it was his strong arm around him as he went limp, all his energy spent.

Once Dracka was sure that he was done throwing up, he pulled him into a kneeling position, very much like the one he'd held him in not that long ago. The man’s head hung limply. Severus reached forward with gentle fingers and tilted his head up. Slitted green eyes peered at them and Severus shivered. The man was so cold to his touch and his eyes were unfocused.

He glanced around and noticed that the fighting had mostly stopped since the Dark Lord had fallen and that the Headmaster was helping Ry over to them. Miller was working with the Aurors as they took down the last of the death eaters and held the ground around them. He caught Miller's eyes briefly before he looked away and back down at Blake.

“Severus?” Dracka asked again.

“I don’t know,” Severus replied. “Blake?”

Blake’s eyes blinked and a bit of life slowly came back into them. He had no strength as Severus held his face.

“He pulled too hard,” Blake whispered. “Too much.”

“Sh,” Severus tried to calm the other man down. “It’s over.”

“Not sure,” Blake slurred.

Freezing the blood in Severus’s veins.

“Blake?” Severus asked.

“Can’t feel…” Blake trailed off and Dracka tightened his hold and shook the man slightly.

Blake jolted at the movement, gasping.

“Dad!”

Severus and Dracka looked up as Ry ran over, the silver sword in his hand and the Headmaster at his back. The boy landed next to the three men and reached out for his father, grabbing his hand as he dropped the sword beside him.

“Oh god,” Albus whispered when he looked Blake over from the bloody bandage on his throat to being held up by Dracka.

“Dad?” Ry whispered and Blake tried to turn his head to look at his son but couldn’t manage it.

“Potter,” Severus turned to Ry. “Blake made a connection with you, can you make one back?”

“I don’t know,” Ry said in a small voice. “I could feel him whispering in my head and the power but not how the connection was made.”

“That’s where you got the skill and power from,” Albus muttered. “I thought as much when the sword appeared.”

“Here, sit here and take his face in your hands,” Severus said to Ry. “Look into his eyes and try to make a connection.”

Dracka shook Blake gently to try and get his attention while the boy knelt in front of his father, Dracka could feel the other man’s heartbeat and how it was slowing. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it, he had a feeling that the blood and magic that he'd taken from Blake was trying to tell him something, he just didn’t know what it was as he held the man tightly.

Harry was drifting.  He could hear voices and pain. Every now and again a voice would get through then he would drift again. Then there were hands on his face and a familiar magic was touching against him. He shielded away, he had nothing more to offer.

“Dad, please.”

He crept back at the voice as an arm like steel held him. The magic brushed against him again and he gasped.

“Have nothing,” Harry slurred. “No.”

“Dad,” Ry cried as he looked into his father’s glassy eyes as tears blurred his own. “I don’t know how to make the connection.”

Harry reached out instinctively at his son’s plea.  His son was crying out, he had to help him. No! He had to protect what magic he had left but it was his son. He hesitantly reached out further and brushed against that familiar magic.

Ry gasped as something brushed against him and he shivered, he looked deeper into his father’s green eyes, so much like his own and yet not.

“Come on, Dad.” Ry whispered. “We won. We were a team you and I. It was us against Voldemort.”

Harry reached out again at the words, remembering the feeling of his magic and spirit tangling with Ry’s as he danced with his silver sword the way he used to when he was young.

Ry shivered again as something brushed against him and he instinctively reached out with his magic and grabbed it. The connection was made and he felt his father faintly.

He was dying. Ry gasped in shock.

“Oh god,” Ry said softly.

“Did you make the connection?” Severus asked beside him.

Ry felt his father stir at Severus’s voice but he was just so tired. Ry could feel it, could feel it in his bones and his heart, how tired the man was. His father had lived so long and Ry shivered at the pain he had suffered and how in some way he wanted it to end but couldn't let go. He'd had no idea how his father had felt as he held the connection and could feel the slow beating of his heart. Only a slight burn at his core where he knew his father's magic should be and could understand why his father had always said that the Deathly Hallows was a curse. He was a fixed point while everything changed around him.

“He’s dying,” Ry whispered.

Dracka tightened his hold on the body in his arms while Severus sat back on his heels in shock. His heart clenched as he looked at the man he loves and could lose as his mind stuttered to a stop.

“Can you do anything Ry?” The Headmaster asked softly, laying a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Ry answered.

The connection with his father was faint but he could feel him holding on. Ry smiled slightly, even now with the pain he felt and the chance to let go, his father was still holding on to the connection. Still fighting and in that moment, Ry saw his father in a different light. He was a warrior to the core, a man that would go down fighting. Slowly Ry channelled the magic within him and fed the connection.

Harry jolted as a familiar magic took hold of him. He started to shake and his heartbeat picked up speed. The hands on his face stayed steady and Harry opened his eyes wide staring into his son’s eyes.

“Stop,” Harry slurred.

The magic burned within him, like a wildfire burning him from the inside out. The flow of magic stopped but the connection remained. Harry panted, staring at his son and Ry gave him a soft smile.

“Sorry,” Ry whispered.

Harry took a hold of the magic that Ry had fed him and shaped it, strengthening the connection and smoothing it out. The arm around his chest grounding him to the now as he felt someone take his hand. He reached out to the connection and touched on Ry’s power. Harry took a look then understood what had gone wrong, Ry had taken too much of his power into himself. Gently Harry touched the ball of magic and slowly separated it out.

Ry gasped as his father did something, he wasn’t sure what it was but it felt right. He stepped back in his mind and let his father have his full trust. Harry slowly untangled the mess he had made while he'd been connected with Ry and took the magic that was just his back into his core. His magic slightly different to Ry's as he worked through the mess.

He gave one last pull on a strand of his magic until only Ry’s pure magic remained. He frowned as one last strand of dark magic held onto Ry's core before uncurling and coming to Harry and the dark magic at his own core. His magic settled before he looked back at Ry's magic to make sure he got everything that was his then he felt a chill settle on him.

Only light magic was left behind. He had always believed that He'd been born with some dark magic but looking at Ry’s core now, he had been incorrect. It looked like his dark magic had always come from Voldemort or the hallows and he had never been born with any. He shivered at the realisation. He slipped back to his core and looked over the small amount of magic and he recognised it as only his. That chill intensified and he started to wonder in what other ways the hallows and the part of him that had been a horcrux had changed him, tainted him.

He was too tired to think on that now as the fatigue pulled at him and he softly broke the connection between him and his son as he fell into the darkness at the edges of his mind.

“No,” Ry yelped as the connection broke.

“What?” Severus whispered.

“He broke the connection,” Ry said.

Blake was completely limp.  His head heavy in Ry’s hands but his skin was warm and his breathing even.

“We should get him up to the school,” Albus said softly.

They turned back to look up at the school. The wards had held on the castle.  The death eaters had not been able to get passed the walls of Hogwarts. Thanks in part to Blake and the teachers, and the fact they had strengthened the wards years ago.

Dracka carefully picked up Blake holding him in his strong arms as Severus looked down at his lover. They had made it through this war, but what was the cost, he thought as the small group turned towards the castle. Blake’s body limp and pale in Dracka’s arms.

xXx

Harry woke with a jolt, a warm body pressed up against his back and a soft snore in his ear. He turned slightly to see Severus wrapped around him, his arm over his chest and his legs tangled with his own. The man was so deeply asleep that he didn’t wake as Harry untangled himself and wiggled to the edge of the bed.

Harry sat there, feeling tired and his throat burning but otherwise not too bad. He could feel his magic slowly healing him, both dark and light magic working together and he sighed. He turned on the bed to look at Severus. He gently brushed the man’s hair back from his face and cupped his cheek. Harry smiled at him before slowly pulling himself to his feet, pausing just long enough to pull on a pair of jeans before limping out of his bedroom.

Dracka was sprawled out across the lounge in the living room, his long frame a foot too long for the couch, so that his feet hung to the side awkwardly. Harry limped passed him to the bathroom to take care of a little business before grabbing up a bottle of water from the kitchen. He moved back to the armchair across from the sleeping vampire.

Once Harry was settled in his chair, he kicked the lounge with his left leg. Dracka started then his eyes fell on Harry and he shot to his feet.

“Sit,” Harry ordered roughly.

The man sat without thought then glared at Harry.

“We have things to talk about,” Harry said softly, his throat raw.

“Should you be up?” Dracka asked, looking over to the clock in the room.

It had only been a few hours since the battle.

“I am now,” Harry whispered. “You and Severus had a plan?”

“Ah, yes.” Dracka said softly.

“You kept that plan from me.” Harry stated in a whisper.

“Yes,” Dracka said. “It didn’t go as much to plan as it should have but the results were the same.”

Harry nodded then winched as it pulled at the wound on his neck.

“You planned to drain the dark magic from me,” Harry continued quietly. “But you forgot that the hallows, the thing keeping me alive, was a part of the dark magic. Something that Miller didn't know and couldn't help you plan for."

“Yes,” Dracka replied, looking away.

“You got lucky,” Harry said dryly. “Ry pulled almost all of the magic from me.”

Dracka paled at the words.

“But he couldn’t control it,” Harry said, leaning forward in his seat. “While I had the connection to him he pulled on the power without realising what he was doing.”

“He could have killed you,” Dracka whispered in horror.

“Yes,” Harry confirmed. “And if I had broken the connection too soon then Dark Lord Voldemort would have lived.”

“And damned us all,” Severus whispered from the doorway.

Harry looked over at the other man. He was just wearing slacks as he stood very still and looking more pale than normal with a nice bruise along his ribs. Harry was sure he was responsible for that but he would focus on that later.

“Yes,” Harry confirmed. “You were lucky because Ry couldn’t use the dark magic. He couldn’t tap into the part that was the hallows.”

“You were able to pull it back into yourself.” Severus said softly, moving over to Dracka and kicking him to move over on the lounge. The vampire flashed his fangs at the man but moved enough for Severus to sit down.

Harry nodded slightly.

“What was your plan?” Harry asked, sitting forward in his seat.

“I noticed that there was no dark magic around Ry’s core,” Dracka said. “The curse scar was dark but his magic was completely light.”

Harry bowed his head at that, another thing he had missed and a confirmation of what he already knew but still didn't want to acknowledge.

“We realised with your connection to both the Dark Lord and Ry that you could make a connection with him.” Severus said softly. “Since you are both the same person and both marked by the Dark Lord. You could follow him where no one else could.”

“It was the dark magic that was the problem,” Dracka finished. "It would have held you back, you needed light magic to connect to his light magic."

“So, you two idiots thought if you drained off my dark magic, then I would be forced to use only light?” Harry said softly.

“That idiot came up with it first,” Severus said, pointing at Dracka. “When you said you died so that the horcrux could be destroyed.”

“We realised that Harry Potter would have to die again,” Dracka said softly.

“And you knew that I couldn’t let that happen,” Harry whispered. “I couldn’t let my son die. I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back.”

“Yes,” Severus agreed.

“But you wouldn’t be able to combat the Horcrux while the dark magic was still in your blood.” Dracka commented.

Harry hung his head cupping his hands on the top of his head as he looked down at the rug under his feet.  He didn’t want to admit it, but the two men were right. They had worked out a plan that he wouldn’t have considered.  Hands fell on his thighs and Harry looked up at Severus crouched before him.

“If we had known…” Severus trailed off.

“You would have come to me with this plan first,” Harry finished hoarsely.

“Something like that,” Dracka commented.

“Your plan was sound,” Harry said softly. “You just forgot one small detail.”

Harry reached forward and took Severus’s face in his hands.

“Ah,” Dracka said. “I should probably be going. I have men to work out and reports to collect. Bradon was looking after everything but he'll want to head back to the Coven to handle things from that end.”

“If you leave the castle, vampire.” Harry said sweetly. “I'll hunt you down.”

“Message received,” Dracka agreed and disappeared out the door.

Harry took Severus in a soft kiss which the other man deepened before Severus stood and held out a hand out for Harry to take. Severus pulled the shorter man to his feet and guided him back to the bedroom.

xXx

Harry hadn't slept long before the nightmares woke him and he pulled himself from the bed with a slight groan. Severus woke and looked over at him and Harry ran a hand down his side, over the bruising on his ribs and stomach that he'd caused.

"Go back to sleep," Harry said softly. "I need to know."

"Blake?" Severus asked with a frown.

"Stay here," Harry said gently as he got to his feet.

Severus watched him with dark eyes as he dressed slowly, his ribs protesting. He didn’t say anything as Severus moved from the bed and dressed as well. Once he was ready, he palmed his cane and moved out of his rooms. He had to know who had fallen, he wouldn't be able to sleep until he knew.

Harry walked with Severus limping slightly himself as he followed behind him, like a silent shadow as they moved out onto the castle's front steps as the first rays of sunlight reached out across the grounds. Birds calling softly to each other as they looked out over the mess. Harry slowly made his way down to the grass and took in the sight, his eyes catching on the paw print that his dragon had made.

"Blake?"

Harry turned to see Kingsley standing there with hollow eyes as he overlooked the Aurors working through the battle field that should have been the front lawn of a school.

"Should you be up?" Kingsley asked in concern.

"No," Severus replied for him.

Harry's lips twitched before he gave a nod and moved out onto the lawn as Severus watched him from beside Kingsley. Harry moved through the fallen and the Aurors as they worked. A few would stop and talk to him as Harry moved around the grounds. Looking at each person on the ground regardless of what side they had been on. Pausing when he came across someone he knew.

He could still feel the magic on the air as his own magic, not bothering to hold it back as he moved back to Severus and Kingsley. Both men had taken a seat on one of the stone benches as they waited for him. Harry moved towards them and collapsed on the seat next to Severus. He was physically and mentally exhausted.

His eyes caught on a few veela as they helped move some of the captured death eaters and he smirked as the death eaters followed after the light creatures like puppies without leads while the Aurors watched them in interest.

"They worked well to contain some of the death eaters on the east side," Kingsley remarked in amusement. "I thought I was going to lose one of my teams to them getting tea and biscuits for the veela, instead of holding back the death eaters."

Harry snorted as he looked around. Seeing the dark and light magic around them from the people with creature blood and the residue of power, like mist on the air. He was too tired to pulls his magic sight back as he looked out over the grounds.

"I bet the veela would have liked that," Harry replied as he leaned his head back on the stones behind him. "Do you need me for anything before I head over to see the mess on the south side?"

"You-know-who's body?" Kingsley asked. "Is it safe to move it?"

"Yes," Harry replied with his eyes closed. "I'll check it over, but should be safe. My sword would have cut through any magic, if he'd had any, on his body."

Both men fell silent at his words and Harry was grateful to them as they sat there for a while. He opened his eyes and slowly moved to his feet.

"I'll be back soon," Harry whispered as he looked at the two men before moving away.

He knew where the body would be as he limped along, heavily using his cane as he walked. He stopped when he came across the body of the Dark Lord and slowly kneeled down with a winch. He looked down at the man lying on his side where he had fallen, before reaching out to grab his shoulder and pulled.

The body rolled limply as Voldemort's red-brown eyes stared up sightlessly. They had been lucky that their combined magic and Harry's sword had cut through the Dark Lord's magic as it had cut through his heart. They didn't have to deal with the backlash from killing a Dark Lord. They had made sure to have a barrier charm ready to go but it hadn't been needed.

Harry reached out and closed the man's eyes as he looked over the very human face and mop of brown hair. The man had caused so much death and destruction in his wake and he could understand the fear people had of Dark Lords and Dark Wizards. His hand clenched around his cane and he wasn't sure how long he knelt there for until a voice broke into his thoughts.

"Right there, Blake?"

Harry slowly looked up to see Remus Lupin looking down at him in concern. He knew how far out of it he was, for the fact he hadn't felt the man's dark curse as he'd approached. Harry gave a sharp nod in answer.

"Sirius?" Harry asked softly.

"Flat out on his back in the hospital wing," Remus replied, he had a nasty gash down his arm and was standing a little to one side but otherwise didn't look too bad. "Took a blasting curse to the side which laid him out but his Black family luck held."

"Tonks?"

"Not a scratch," Remus said with a small smile as he shifted his weight. "We were lucky, those Auror teams took the brunt of it. Not to mention the Department, I'm sure that we would have taken heavier hits if it wasn't for them. I wasn't aware of how skilled they are."

"They have their moments," Harry said as he slowly pushed himself to his feet and braced his feet as his head spun slightly.

Remus grabbed his shoulder to keep him standing and Harry closed his eyes until it passed.

"Should you be up?" Remus asked softly.

"Probably not," Harry replied.

"Ry has a bed next to Sirius," Remus said as his tan eyes looked him over. "I'm sure they could find one for you."

Harry glared at the man and Remus's lips twitched up before he looked down at Voldemort.

"How's Ry doing?" Harry asked softly.

"He's fine," Remus replied as the two men moved away from the body and back towards the castle, both moving slowly. "I think Poppy is holding him for the fact that Sirius is there and his magic levels are low."

Harry paused and his eyes caught on the white sheets over the bodies as memories of other battlefields overlapped each other in his mind. Remus's hand landing on his shoulder jolted him and he glanced over to Remus. He'd seen too much of this in his long life.

"You are more than just James's cousin," Remus stated. "You have knowledge beyond what we know."

Harry nodded and said nothing.

"What you can do with magic. Is something that would take longer than how old you look, Blake." Remus said softly, making sure that no one could over hear them. "The way you understand dark and light magic and can twist it to the way you want. We are still understanding that magic and you are a master of it."

Harry looked down at the churned up earth at his feet for a while before focusing on the werewolf. Remus just stood there, not pushing for answers just putting it out there, in case he wanted to talk. He knew better than anyone what the price of a secret was worth.

"I am from the future," Harry said softly, feeling hollow inside as he looked around. "I hold the Deathly Hallows."

Remus sucked in a breath as his eyes widened. Harry glanced at the other man and reached out and touched on the man's curse, just above his skin. Feeling the strands of dark and light mixed together seamlessly.

"I am cursed," Harry whispered and moved off.

Remus didn't follow him but Harry could feel his eyes on his back. Severus moved to his feet when Harry approached.

"You can take his body away," Harry said to Kingsley. "Do with it what you want, cremation would be my suggestion."

"Thank you," Kingsley said softly and moved away, leaving the lovers alone.

Harry looked Severus over and the man gave him a raised eyebrow in question.

"Can I help you, Mr Sun?" Severus drawled.

Harry looked away as he leaned into his cane and looked over the grounds.

"Blake?" Severus whispered as he moved closer. "Are you alright?"

Harry didn't answer and didn't react when Severus took his hand.

"I'm going to see the vampires," Harry said softly. "Alone."

Severus's hand tightened around his and Harry looked up at him. Severus's eyes were dark and unreadable as they looked down at him.

"And who to going to catch you when you pass out?" Severus hissed.

"The floor," Harry replied. "That's what normally catches me when my stupidity catches up with me."

Severus's lips twitched at those words.

"Spoken from experience?" Severus drawled.

Harry gave him a small smile as Severus let his hand go. Harry gave him a nod and walked away.

xXx

Dracka glanced up as he caught Blake's scent and his demon took notice as the man slowly moved towards them. He noticed a few other vampires looking over at the man. Dracka moved to his feet when he noticed how unsteady Blake looked and he frowned when he didn't notice Severus with him.

The Aurors were helping his men with moving the vampires that had been killed out of the rising sun for his men to take them back to his Coven. They had taken a big hit of not only his men but people fighting for the Council of both light and dark creatures and Dracka's eyes caught on some veela and he flashed his fangs at them as they bared their teeth at him. Some habits were hard to change.

"I don't want to have to break you lot up," Blake said softly as he stopped close to Dracka.

"They have been good so far," Dracka reported as he looked the other man over.

His eyes catching on the bandage on his neck and his hand itched to heal the wound but it was too late now. Severus had been too quick to place the potion on the wound as Blake's hollow eyes looked over the scene.

"The goblins came through with some direct portkeys from here, through the French Portkey Platform to my Coven and back," Dracka said softly as his eyes roamed over the other man. "Without charge."

"That was generous of them," Blake said softly.

Both men fell quiet as Dracka turned back to his men, his friends and family that had fallen and felt his demon whine softly in his mind. He moved closer to the other man and let the man's scent touch him. He could only faintly feel the man's magic and knew that Blake wasn't holding it back, it was just that faint. Like a cool breeze brushing his skin.

"Should you be up?" Dracka asked as he turned to the man.

"From the amount of people asking me that," Blake said as he turned to Dracka. "I'm starting to believe that I shouldn't be."

Dracka's lips twisted up in a smile.

"Blake. Dracka."

Both men turned to see Miller moving towards them with his arm in a sling and only wearing his dragon hide vest and pants. The man looked rough and he needed a shower as he moved towards them as his sharp blue eyes looked around before focusing on them.

"I owe your men, Dracka." Miller said and clapped a hand to the vampire's shoulder. "We would be burying team ten without the support of your men."

"They were happy to help," Dracka replied. "I'm sure they were feeling peckish."

Miller gave him a twisted smile that looked even worse with the dirt and blood on his face before his eyes looked Blake over.

"Right there?" Miller asked.

"Still standing," Blake replied.

"Probably not for long," Dracka muttered.

Miller and Dracka looked over at Blake when he didn't say anything and Dracka frowned. The man really didn't look good and he reached out and grabbed his arm. Blake flinched slightly at the move and Dracka's frown deepened as he released him.

"I should find somewhere softer than the floor to collapse on," Blake said softly before turning and walking away.

Dracka and Miller shared a look as they watched the other man limp away.

"Should we help him?" Miller asked softly.

"Dracka!"

Dracka looked over to see Dalcon, another Coven leader, calling over to him and he turned to Miller.

"I have to go," Dracka whispered and looked over at Blake. "See that he gets back to his rooms, without hitting the floor."

"I can try but it is Blake." Miller replied with a smirk and moved after the other man.

Dracka's demon growled slightly as Miller caught up with Blake before his attention was drawn back to the other Coven leader and the job ahead of him, the scent of the man clinging to him.

xXx

Ry looked over to the main doors of the hospital wing when the noise dimmed slightly to see his father standing in the doorway with Sergeant Miller by his side. He was surprised to see his father up so soon, not to mention the three flights of stairs to the hospital wing, and by the way that Miller was keeping a close eye on him and was staying close to his shoulder the other man was surprised they were there as well.

Ry gave a slight smile as his father's eyes locked with him and he felt relieved to see him. Ry moved to the side of his bed and sat there as Blake entered the room. Ry reached over and picked up a box of chocolate frogs and waited for his father to arrive.

He could still remember the way his father had looked at the station and how he'd felt when he picked up the connection. His father stopped beside him and glanced over at Sirius in the other bed before taking a seat next to him and Ry handed over the box of chocolate frogs.

"Merlin, don't give him chocolate," Miller moaned and Ry gave him a smile as the man took a seat on the other side of him.

"He's not that bad on a chocolate high," Ry said in amusement before looking his father over. "You look like you need it."

Blake snorted and gave him a smirk but it didn't reach his eyes.

"How did you even get up here?" Ry asked.

"The normal way, Ry." Blake replied in amusement. "Two legs, a cane and Nurse Miller making sure I didn't land on my ass."

Miller barked a laugh then ducked his head as Madam Promfrey glared over at them. His father laid his hand on his leg and gave it a squeeze as they shared a look.

"How's the savour of the wizarding world feeling?" Blake asked with a smirk.

Ry groaned as his father unwrapped the first chocolate frog and he was already regretting giving them to him. Ry glanced up at Miller and could see his thoughts reflected there as the man eyed the box of frogs. Both men knew what his father was like on a sugar high.

"And how did you deal with it, Blake?" Miller asked and Ry froze.

"I would say gracefully," Blake replied. "But I would be lying."

Ry snorted loudly and quickly glanced at Poppy to see her lips thinning as she kept an eye on them. They were just lucky that Ry's bed was at the back of the room, where the windows are and they only had Sirius passed out in the bed next to them.

"Kingsley was good," Blake said softly. "Had me enrolled in the Auror program, even if I didn't have the schooling to get in. Helped me write a statement to the press and everything."

Ry could see the faraway look in his father's eyes as he glanced at Miller on the other side of him and looked the rough man over. He'd known the man since he was a young child.

"Looks like we've lost him," Miller muttered and picked up another box of chocolate frogs and Ry gave him a smile. "He might need that chocolate to get him back down to the dungeons."

His father looked over at them and Ry shivered at the look in his father's eyes.

"Did you know?" Ry asked softly.

"Did I know what?" Blake asked.

"I'll check on my men and come back," Miller said with a nod and moved off. "Then Nurse Miller will make sure you get back to the care of Nurse Snape and he is worse than me."

Ry snickered as Miller gave them a wink and moved off. Ry looked at his father and raised an eyebrow.

"If you want this private," His father said. "You will have to cast a silencing spell."

Those words told Ry how his father felt as he pulled his wand and whispered the spell and felt it go up around them. His father looked tired and Ry was surprised that he wasn't passed out somewhere, from the look in Blake's eyes he was surprised as well.

"Did you know when you took over my guardianship that I would have to die?" Ry whispered and his father looked down at his hands.

Ry reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulders in comfort but he had to know.

"No," Blake said softly. "The connection was there but it wasn't strong. It was when you had that vision of Arthur Weasley, when Dark Lord Voldemort's emotions started to leak over the link that I knew the horcrux was alive in you enough to stop him from dying."

"You had to die," Ry pointed out.

"Dark Lord Voldemort used my blood to come back, Ry." Blake said softly. "He renewed and strengthened that connection as he fed the horcrux, binding us close together in the ritual that he used. He did not do that with you, I thought at the time that we could try something different to break the link."

Ry pulled back from his father and looked him over, his father wouldn't meet his eyes as he looked out over the busy hospital wing. Something was wrong with him as he sat there and Ry frowned. Picking up on his body language.

"Dad," Ry whispered and the man turned to him. "Why did Snape and Dracka want to keep what we were doing a secret?"

Blake sighed and buried his face in his hands and Ry felt his heart clench for his father, he knew now the pain the man had had to face over his very long life.

"Because I couldn't do it, Ry." His father whispered.

Ry frowned as he tightened his hold on his father.

"I knew what needed to be done," Blake said softly. "I already looked at everything I could, Ry. Every bit of magic that I could think of and I knew what needed to be done but I couldn't do it. They had worked it out and they planned what I couldn't face."

"Sh," Ry said softly with his arm around his father. "Severus and Dracka knew what to do."

Blake nodded and when his father looked up, his eyes looked hollow and every line of his body showed how he felt. Ry could understand his father more now than he ever had before. He'd had a connection to his father and felt his emotions and thoughts as they had fought against Voldemort. That feeling of knowing that he would survive when other wouldn't and also the wish to let go.

"They did," His father whispered.

Ry just wrapped his arm around his father's shoulder, giving what comfort he could.

xXx

Harry swung his legs slightly as he looked out over the grounds of Hogwarts from his seat up on the wall of the school. He could see the large footsteps that his dragon had made and the mess of the grounds. White sheets to his right marked out where Voldemort’s followers had been moved to while the Ministry worked out what they were going to do with them.

They had faired okay and Harry was happy to report that the losses to their side weren’t as high as they could have been. Dracka’s men had faired the worse and he’d had to call in some more of his Coven to take the dead away. They had been ambushed on the southside but the Aurors that Harry had sent had stopped them being overrun.

A scuff on the stones had Harry turning his head to see Alastor Moody limping towards him. 

“Going to push me off the edge?” Harry asked as he brought his left leg up onto the stones so he could turn to see the other man better, his other leg still dangling over the side of the wall.

Moody’s fake eye rolled as he limped closer, the man had taken a bad cutting curse to the side but he was a tough bear of a man and was up again quickly.

“Any man that can stare a Dark Lord in the eye and cast a spell at him.” Moody growled as he moved closer. “Has my respect.”

Harry gave him a small grin before his eyes caught on the grounds again and the ones that had fallen and his grin faded.

“It could have been worse,” Moody remarked as he moved to stand next to Harry. “I’ve seen battles lines fall quickly once dark magic starts flying around. Your vampires fought well.”

“And many of them died too,” Harry said softly.

“But they fought with us, Sun!” The man barked.

“Well yes,” Harry said in confusion, looking over at the man. “They are one of our allies. Part of the Council.”

“You don’t get it, Sun!” Moody rumbled as he looked out onto the grounds.

Harry waited the other man out.

“You brought dark and light creatures here,” Moody said after a few minutes. “And they fought with us against a Dark Lord.”

“Yes,” Harry agreed. Drawing out the word, not seeing the man’s point.

“You managed something that had not been done before,” The man growled and Harry froze. “I’m an old man, Sun, and I don’t like change but you are making changes. There is a vampire teaching at this school-"

“The Minister of Magic put him in that position,” Harry cut in.

“And where did he get that idea?” Moody barked. “I thought he was mad! A dark creature like a vampire surrounded by children! What was the man thinking! A Dark Wizard teaching children was bad enough, now a vampire.”

Harry swung his leg as he waited for Moody to get to the point.

“It worked,” Moody said as he fixed both of his eyes on Harry. “We are getting nothing but good reports out of this school about Mr Dracka.”

“Please don’t tell him that,” Harry pleaded. “He doesn’t need a boost to his ego, it's large enough as it is.”

“And you Sun!” Moody continued. “A man that doesn’t hide his dark magic, who is clearly a Dark Wizard and yet fought against a Dark Lord. From what Albus has told us the castle would have fallen without you.”

Harry stilled at man’s words.

“I think the Headmaster gives me too much credit,” Harry said softly.

“Bah!” The man cried. “You think I can’t see your magic on this school! On the wards! On the stones of this school?”

Harry rubbed a hand over his head before focusing on the man beside him.

“Yes,” Harry said softly as Moody’s magical eye focused on him. “I imagine that eye of yours lets you see a lot more than others can.”

Moody gave him a twisted smile, which sent a shiver down Harry’s spine.

“I may not like change, Sun.” Moody growled. “But I can see when change is a good thing and may be needed.”

The man turned on his heel and limped away slowly as Harry watched him. Harry’s eyes were drawn back to where Voldemort’s followers had been lined up as memories from his own time overlapped as he looked out over the grounds. They would move forward, like they always did but Moody’s words gave him pause.

Severus moved up beside him and stood silently next to him as the sun made its way higher into the sky. Harry slipped his hand into the other man’s as he sat on the wall. Whatever may come they would face it together.

“What are the Weasley twins doing?” Severus said suddenly.

Harry looked out to see the two red heads crouched down, looking at one of the footsteps his dragon had made.

“Taking notes?” Harry suggested.

Severus paled.

“They don’t think that they can call up a dark dragon?” Severus whispered.

Harry gave a chuckle.

“They can’t call up a dark dragon,” Harry said softly and Severus relaxed next to him. “A light dragon however, would be a different story.”

“Oh, god.”

 

End of Part Four.

One more part to go.


End file.
